Mazen Darwish 3 years in jail
Syria
The Syrian government should immediately free the prominent Syrian human rights defender Mazen Darwish and his colleagues Hani Al-Zitani and Hussein Gharir, 71 human rights organizations, including Lawyers for Lawyers said today, on the third anniversary of their arrest. The three men have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty on the basis of their human rights activities.
The Syrian Air Force Intelligence arrested the three men and other colleagues during a raid on the group’s office, in Damascus on February 16, 2012. The three men have been on trial before the Anti-Terrorism Court on charges of “publicizing terrorist acts” under article 8 of the country’s 2012 Anti-Terrorism Law. The charges are based on their peaceful activities that include monitoring and publishing information about human rights abuses in Syria.
Mazen Darwish is a human rights defender and journalist from Syria. Despite obtaining a law degree, he was never admitted to the Bar to work as a lawyer due to his human rights activities.
For years, Mazen Darwish has been advocating press freedom and free speech in Syria. In 2000, he founded the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), creating the first ever NGO in Syria.
Darwish and his colleagues are not the only Syrian activists that were arrested. Recently, Lawyers for Lawyers received a report that shows that since 2011, at least 324 lawyers were arrested.
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