Syria Today | Religious and secular opposition leaders released

Religious and secular opposition leaders released

Syrian authorities released a number of secular and Islamist opposition figures last month.

National Council of the Damascus Declaration (NCDD) leaders Akram Bunni, Jabr al-Shufi and Ahmed Tomeh were released from jail on June 13 after serving 30-month prison terms, according to a statement from the London-based group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Fellow NCDD member Fidaa Horani was released after serving her full 30-month prison term on June 16. A fifth NCDD member, Ali al-Abdallah, was due to be released on the same day but instead faced new charges of weakening national morale, the Reuters news agency reported.

The five were part of a group of 12 activists who were sentenced to 30 months in prison for charges including damaging the state and weakening national sentiment. At the time of publication, it was unknown if the other seven activists had been released.

All 12 were signatories of a document known as the Damascus Declaration, released in 2005, which called for radical democratic change in Syria. A range of secular and religious opposition groups backed the declaration.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported last month that the government had released a group of Islamist prisoners, some of whom it said had spent more than 30 years in prison. A statement from the group said the men belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group which is banned in Syria. It did not specify the exact number of released prisoners.