Damascus interrogates Labawani again for his trial
The Arab human rights committee in Syria said that the investigation judge in one of Damascus courts interrogated on Wednesday for the second time the opposition member Kamal al-Labawani who was detained on November 8 after his return back from the USA, and the judge is to decide later on a date for his trial.
Labawani was arrested immediately after his arrival in Damascus airport under the charge of "undermining the state's sovereignty" on the background of statements he made, and his meetings with American officials with its maximum penalty up to one year imprisonment.
The spokesman for human rights organization in Syria, Ammar al-Qurabi, said that representatives for the American embassy and the European Union attended the interrogation session in addition to the two lawyers for Labawani, Abdul Rahim Ghamazah, member of the Arab organization for human rights, and Muhammad al-Hosni of the Syrian human rights committee.
Al-Qurabi explained that Labawani repeated his statements during the first interrogation session on November 12, adding that he had met with American officials to explain to them the situation in Syria and the need of the Syrian people to have democracy. He stressed that he expressed to the Americans his opposition to impose sanctions on the Syrian people.
Labawani presides over the Secular Democratic Liberal Coalition which is banned. He was arrested for three years after he was an active member in the course of "Damascus spring" which followed the accession of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to power in 2000 and witnessed an intensive activity by the opposition.
After his release, Labawani traveled to Britain in August this year at the invitation of the Amnesty International to take part in drawing exhibition he made during his detention. He also visited Brussels and then the USA where he had met officials at the White House.
On December 10th, the US President George W. Bush called on the Syrian government to release Labawani unconditionally and immediately together with all political detainees.
