(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of Michel Kilo, a Syrian journalist, human rights activist and political scientist, who was arrested on 14 May 2006 in Damascus. His wife said he had not been seen since he got a phone call in the afternoon ordering him to report to a […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of Michel Kilo, a Syrian journalist, human rights activist and political scientist, who was arrested on 14 May 2006 in Damascus. His wife said he had not been seen since he got a phone call in the afternoon ordering him to report to a police station.
“Censorship, harassment, threats and arbitrary arrests – the Syrian authorities seem to stop at nothing,” Reporters Without Borders said. “After Ali Abdallah’s arrest on 23 March, it is now the turn of Kilo – an emblematic figure in Syria’s struggle for democracy – to be targeted by the repression against journalists and human rights activists.”
The press freedom organisation added: “We are all the more worried as we do not know what charges have been brought against him or where he is being held.”
Ammar al-Qorabi of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said he thought Kilo had been arrested for signing a petition by 274 leading intellectuals, journalists and artists from both Syria and Lebanon urging calling for a radical reform of relations between the two countries.
Called “Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut,” the joint statement condemns “any attempt to impose economic or other sanctions on the Syrian people” and advocates the need to “respect and consolidate the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon and of Syria as part of institutionalised and transparent relations that serve the interests of both peoples and reinforce them against Israeli aggression and US hegemony.”
It also stresses “the need for definitive Syrian recognition of Lebanon’s independence,” adding that “the first steps in this direction should consist of a demarcation of borders and an exchange of ambassadors.”
An advocate of democratic reform in Syria, Kilo writes for the Lebanese dailies “An-Nahar” and “Al-Safir”, as well as “Al Quds Al Arabi”, an Arabic-language newspaper based in London. He also heads Hourriyat, a Damascus-based press freedom organisation launched last year.
In addition to fellow journalist Ali Abdallah, three cyber-dissidents – Massoud Hamid, Habib Saleh and Mohammed Ghanem – are currently imprisoned in Syria.
President Bashar El-Assad is on the Reporters Without Borders list of 38 press freedom predators.
