Public trial for al-Turk is still under dispute

Sunday's trial session for the Syrian opposition lawyer Riyadh al- Turk ended on Sunday with tougher stances taken both by the prosecutor and defense towards having an open trial for al-Turk in the presence of western press and journalists.

The chairman of the political bureau of the Syrian Communist Party Riyadh al-Turk called on the commission of the higher state security court to have the trial session in the open. He said "achieving justice requires the availability of four elements which are: the court, the accusing side, the defendant and the public," saying that by the absence of the public -- "the court looses its credibility," according to lawyers who attended the session.

On this ground, al-Turk threatened to keep silence and not to answer the court's commission unless this precondition is met. A matter which prompted Judge Fayez al-Nouri, according to the lawyers, to make the court session secret "if he ( al-Turk) does not talk (answer questions)" and "to appoint a lawyer by the court" for him. Al-Nouri postponed the trial session until May 27th.

An intensive presence has characterized Sunday's session, mostly members of the Democratic National Coalition.

Al-Turk's wife, Asma' al-Faisal, considered the trial "as not in the open" and quoted her husband as saying that "the lawyers have the liberty to react and he exempts them from defending him if they wish so."

The said trial session was attended by al-Turk's wife, his brother, six lawyers and, SANA's female representative. A matter which was considered by judge al-Nouri as media presence and "meets the condition of openness."

However, SANA gave no mention to the news on the trial, a claim used by the defendant in facing the court's inquiry.