Syrian freedom of expression defenders to stand trial on terrorism charge

Mazen Darwish, a prominent Syrian human rights defender and four of his colleagues from the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) will stand trial on Wednesday accused of promoting terrorism

UPDATE: The trial against Mazen Darwish and his colleagues has been postponed and is now scheduled for 2 October 2013.

The court proceedings will take place in the Counter Terrorism Criminal Court in Damascus.

The five activists were arrested on 16 February 2012 during a raid of SCM’s premises. Since then, some of them have been kept mostly in solitary detention, denied access to their relatives and lawyers, and subjected to torture and ill-treatment, says the Dutch human rights organisation Hivos.

Mazen Darwish and his four colleagues are charged with ‘promoting terrorism acts’ under article 149 of the Syrian Penal Code and article 8 of the Counter Terrorism Law of 2012.

The law stipulates that those found guilty of promoting terrorism according to Article 8 can be sentenced to three to fifteen years of imprisonment and hard labour.

According to Hivos, Mazen Darwish and his colleagues have been arrested and detained several times since 2004 when they started their work, facing both physical harassment and administrative restrictions, including travel bans and the systematic rejection of SCM’s official registration in Syria.

On 17 May 2013, International Media Support together with 18 other international organisations called on the international community to persuade the Syrian authorities to release the five human rights defenders immediately and unconditionally. The Syrian authorities did not react.