Syria Human Rights society announces its chairman banned from traveling

In a statement the "Human rights society in Syria" announced that the Syrian authorities prevented the chairman of the society, lawyer Haitham al-Maleh, from leaving the country.

The statement read that "the security forces today morning ( yesterday) banned lawyer Haitham al-Maleh, the chairman of the human rights society in Syria from leaving the country, prior to departing Damascus International Airport to the United Arab Emirates in a family visit."

The statement added that this was because of "a speech he had delivered before the human rights committee at the German parliament on the occasion of the Human rights International Day, though he had earlier talked in the same topic, relating to human rights under the state of emergency, in two public seminars."

The statement added "continued security summoning up of human rights activists and restricting their freedoms through preventing them from leaving the country are considered oppressive measures against them."

The statement continued "the human rights society in Syria calls on the authorities to honor rights and freedoms of human rights defendants activists and abrogate all illegal security measures taken against them." Al-Maleh benefited from "a pardoning" issued by President Bashar al-Assad on July 2nd, 2003 concerning certain minor crimes.