A verdict in the case of the head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) Mazen Darwish and three of his colleagues has been postponed, their lawyer said on Monday.
“The head of the terrorism court set a verdict date for the cases of Mazen Darwish and his colleagues Hani Zaitani and Hussein Ghreir for April 28, after it was delayed a number of times,” Michel Shammas told reporters.
The three media activists have been held by the Assad regime since 2012 on charges of “promoting terrorist acts.”
The United Nations has urged the Assad regime to release all political prisoners, and has made a special plea for the release of the three activists.
Spokesman for the Syrian Coalition Salem al-Meslet calls on the UN Security Council to put pressure on the Assad regime to implement the Un resolution 2139 urging the release of all detainees in Syria. He also calls on as the International Red Cross’s mission to organize visits to detention centers to check on the safety of detainees and report on their status.
Meslet stresses that the file of detainees in Assad’s secret jails is a top priority for the Syrian Coalition, adding that “we constantly raise the issue of the detainees in all our meetings with Arab, international and UN officials and call upon them to exercise pressure on the Assad regime to release the detainees and alleviate their suffering. “No-one must forget the role of activists who have been detained by Assad’s security forces, and that almost every Syrian has a brother, a friend or relative who is waiting a bleak fate in Assad’s secret jails.”
The designated date for the verdict is scheduled days before Darwish’s receipt of Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, award to him by UNESCO. The organization announced that it would deliver the prize to Darwish or his representative during the upcoming celebration of World Press Freedom Day, which will be hosted by Latvia on May 3rd. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
