Middle East News

Trial of prominent Syrian rights activist postponed

Mar 11, 2007, 13:11 GMT

Damascus - The trial of a prominent Syrian human rights activist was postponed Sunday until March 20 upon the request of the defence, a human rights groups said. Anwar al-Bunni, a lawyer and member of the Human Rights Association in Syria, was arrested last May along with nine others, including a prominent Syrian writer and democracy campaigner, Michel Kilo, after signing a petition for Syria to improve strained relations with Lebanon, exchange diplomats and demarcate borders between the two neighbours. The so-called 'Damascus-Beirut Declaration' was signed by some 500 Syrian and Lebanese intellectuals. Relations between Lebanon and Syria plummeted after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which many Lebanese blame on Syria. Al-Bunni has often called for democratic reform in Syria and spoken out on behalf of detainees and Kurdish activists. He has been arrested several times. Since he took office in July 2000, Syrian President Bashar Assad has released hundreds of political prisoners, but also cracked down on pro-democracy and pro-reform activists, showing there were limits to the levels of dissent his administration is willing to tolerate. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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