Syria Today | White House calls for release of prominent lawyer

White House calls for release of prominent lawyer

The White House has called for the release of Haitham al-Maleh, a 78-year-old human rights activist and lawyer who was detained by Syrian security services early last month.

In a statement released on October 24, the Obama administration said it joined Britain, France and other countries in expressing “deep concern” about Maleh’s arrest.

“Syria should demonstrate its commitment to international legal norms by releasing Maleh,” the statement said.

The statement went on to allege that Maleh had been imprisoned solely for seeking to exercise his internationally recognised political freedom. International human rights groups claim Maleh disappeared after being summoned by security services on October 14. Syrian authorities had not commented on Maleh’s detention and the charges against him at the time of publication.

Maleh holds degrees in Syrian and international law. In 1958 he was appointed as a judge, but dismissed from the judiciary in 1966.

In 1980 he was sentenced to six years in prison, along with a number of other union leaders and activists, for demanding constitutional reforms, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. He conducted several hunger strikes during his time in prison.