Haitham al-Maleh, the 80-year-old human rights lawyer who was convicted to three years in prison on 7 July 2010, was in detention for exactly one year on 14 October 2010. Two days before, it was announced that he is to receive the annual Alkamara Award for human rights defenders. The award will be presented on human rights day (10 December). The Alkamara organization expressed the hope that Al-Maleh himself will be enabled to come to Geneva, to receive the award in person.
Al-Maleh’s health suffers from the circumstances in prison and the lack of adequate medical attention. He was convicted for ‘the spreading of false information that was damaging for the morale of the nation’, ‘the weakening of national sentiments’ and ‘slandering a government institution’. In 2006, he received the Dutch human rights award, the ‘Geuzenpenning’.
Read more about Al-Maleh on this website or about the award on the Alkamara website.
