(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF report: **Updates IFEX alert of 10 March 1999** Ten journalists still jailed as of 8 March 1999 Nizar Nayyuf, winner of the 1998 RSF Fondation de France award, a freelance journalist, contributor to the weekly “Al-Huriyya” and the magazine “Al-Thaqafa Al-Maarifa”, and a member of the Committee for […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF report:
**Updates IFEX alert of 10 March 1999**
Ten journalists still jailed as of 8 March 1999
Nizar Nayyuf, winner of the 1998 RSF Fondation de France award, a
freelance
journalist, contributor to the weekly “Al-Huriyya” and the magazine
“Al-Thaqafa Al-Maarifa”, and a member of the Committee for the Defence
of
Democratic Freedoms (CDF), was arrested on 2 January 1992. He was
sentenced
by the Supreme State Security Court to ten years in jail for writing
leaflets for the committee. He has Hodgkin’s disease, a form of
leukaemia
that can be cured if treated rapidly by chemotherapy. He is also
suffering
from numerous ailments due to his conditions of detention and to torture
(see IFEX alert of 27 January 1995).
Ismail al-Hajie, was arrested in January 1982 and accused of belonging
to
the Democratic Socialist Ba’ath Party. He was sentenced to fifteen years
in
prison in June 1994.
Faysal Allush, an author and journalist, was arrested in 1985 and not
tried
until 28 June 1993, when he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for
belonging to the Communist Action Party.
Samir Al-Hassan, a Palestinian journalist with Al-Asifa and publisher of
the
journal Fatah al-Intifada, was arrested on 1 April 1986. His trial only
began before the Supreme State Security Court in July 1993. He was
sentenced
on 6 June 1994 to 15 years’ imprisonment for belonging to the Communist
Action Party.
Anwar Bader, a reporter with Syrian radio and television, was arrested
on 6
December 1986 by military security officers. He is reportedly being held
at
Seydnaya prison and is believed to have been tortured. He was sentenced
to
12 years in prison for belonging to the Communist Action Party. Although
he
completed his sentence in December 1998, there has been no news of his
release.
Faraj Ahmad Birqdar, a Syrian journalist and poet, was arrested in March
1987 and interrogated by military security officers, who are believed to
have tortured him. He is now thought to be in Seydnaya prison after
spending
seven years in solitary confinement. The Supreme State Security Court
sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment in 1993. He has been refused
medical
treatment for injuries to his spinal column caused by torture.
Salama George Kila, a journalist with Al Wahda and Dirasat Arabia, was
arrested in March 1992, tried in July 1993 by the Supreme State Security
Court and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was accused of being a
member of the CDF because of an article on censorship in Syria published
in
a Jordanian newspaper. He is believed to have been tortured.
Qaiss Darwish, a journalist with the magazine Al Ka’ayda, was arrested
in
August 1984, accused of belonging to the Communist Action Party and
sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Nou’man Abdo, a journalist with Al-Tarik, has been in prison since 1992.
He
was sentenced to 15 years in 1993. In July 1998 he was moved to Tadmur
prison.
Marwan Mohammed, a journalist with Al-Ba’ath, was arrested on 18 October
1987 and accused of belonging to the Communist Action Party. In 1993 he
was
sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.
