mr president muhannad al hassani is another human rights defender arbitrarily detained by the syrian authorities
he is another syrian political prisoner whose only guilt was his wish to protect the right of the people to freely express themselves their right to engage in political activities and their right to a fair trial
for more than five years he was forbidden to travel
his office telephone communications and e-mails were under constant surveillance by syrian security forces
after weeks of increasing harassment over his role in monitoring the practices of syria's supreme state security court he was in the end arrested by the syrian state security and later charged with several criminal offences all referring to his right to free speech
on the topic of arbitrary detention let us not forget mr al-labwani the outstanding human rights defender who was sentenced to twelve years in prison for what the un working group on arbitrary detention considered to be the peaceful expression of his political views
the syrian government must free mr al hassani mr al-labwani and the other political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and guarantee their physical and psychological integrity in all circumstances
the syrian authorities must put an end to all forms of harassment against syrian human rights defenders and civil society activists in accordance with the provisions of the nineteen ninety-eight un declaration on human rights defenders
