IMS condemns arrest of Syrian activist and blogger Razan Ghazzawi

On 4 December, the Syrian blogger and activist Razan Ghazzawi was arrested by the Syrian immigration police on the Syrian- Jordanian border on unknown charges

International Media support is strongly concerned by the arrest of Rasan Ghazzawi which signals a serious breach of the right to freedom of expression on the part of the Syrian authorities.

Having tweeted and blogged against the Syrian regime on her personal blog http://razanghazzawi.com for the past several month from inside Syria, friends of Razan Ghazzawihave said that she was concerned that she had become a target. The arrest happened while Razan Ghazzahwi was heading to attend the Forum of Defenders and Media Freedom in the Arab World in Amman on 4 December, as representative of the Syrian Center for Media and freedom of expression (SCM).

The arrest of Razan Ghazzawi is seen to be one in a number of actions by government to stifle civil society and freedom of expression in Syria.

International Media Support joins the ranks of other organisations such as EMHR and HIVOS in calling for her release and for the Syrian authorities to respect their international commitments through their ratification of the international conventions and treaties on the right to freedom of expression.

In her blog Razan Ghazzawi wrote:

“If anything happens to me, know that the regime does not fear the prisoners, but those who don’t forget them.”