Syrian filmmaker arrested en route to Denmark

Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, CPH:DOX 2011 and IMS are currently confronting audiences with poignant and moving testimony to the great social and popular upheavals of the Arab Spring

Daily reports of violent and ongoing attacks on the civilian population in countries such as Syria and Bahrain attest to the fact that this fight is far from over – nonetheless, these people remain indefatigable in their brave insistence on their right to the most basic liberties and freedom of expression.

One of these courageous voices is the internationally renowned Syrian filmmaker, Nidal Hassan, whose film “Three Stories of Life, Love and Death” had its world premiere yesterday at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival. To mark this occasion, Nidal Hassan was invited as an official guest of the festival.

However, last Thursday when he paid a visit to the authorities to obtain his passport, Hassan was arrested. Since then, nobody has heard from him. The Syrian regime has provided no information on Hassan, and there is cause for serious concern about his fate.

Tens of thousands of Syrian citizens are wrongfully incarcerated and arbitrary detentions continue even now, after the Syrian regime declared that it would comply with the terms of the Arab League’s new initiative for Syria – including an explicit requirement to cease these incarcerations and to release all political prisoners.

In a press statement CPH:DOX encourages everyone to join the call for an immediate end to the Syrian regime’s violence, intimidation and attacks against those like Nidal Hassan who insist on the right to political and artistic freedom of expression.