The criminal court in Damascus sentenced the activist Habeeb Salih (61 years) on 15th March 2009 to three years in prison, accusing him of “weakening nationalist sentiments and spreading false or exaggerated news aiming to weaken the morale of the nation” based on articles he wrote and published on electronic websites.
Mr. Habeeb Salih was arrested from a street in the city of Tartous on 7/5/2008. He was imprisoned for a long period in complete solitary, cut off from the world before being tried at the criminal court.
The life of Mr. Habeeb Salih has been full of arrest and detention based on his activism in general affairs. This is the third occasion in which he has been arrested during the tenure of President Bashar Al-Asad. He was previously arrested with the detainees of the “Damascus Spring” on 12 September 2001, sentenced to three years in prison and released thereafter on 9th September 2004. Soon after he was arrested on 30th May 2005, sentenced to three years in prison, and released on 12th July 2007. He was arrested for the third time this decade on 7/5/2008, and was sentenced to three years imprisonment on 15/3/2009.
During the tenure of President Hafiz Al-Asad, Habeeb Salih was also arrested on three occasions according to martial laws but he was not taken to court. He was arrested in 1982 for a year and a half, 1986 for six months, and 1994 for a year and a half.
Habeeb Salih is an activist and writer on general affairs. He is the founder of “The National Dialogue Forum” in Tartous, and has previously worked as a writer, translator and businessman.
Suffering from numerous diseases, including high blood pressure and chronic arthritis, Habeeb Salih’s health is at a critical condition. Due to this he is in need of constant health care.
The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) considers the issued sentence against Mr Habeeb Salih as unfair and a reinforcement of dictatorship and repression, and forbidding citizens of their rights to express their opinions. The court which sentenced Mr Salih is unfair and unjust which does not meet the standards of fair trials as laid out in the Syrian constitution and laws, and the international conventions which Syria has signed and is part of. The court also upholds the emergency state and martial laws which have been imposed on Syria since 8/3/1963. SHRC considers the arrest of Mr. Habeeb Salih as an arbitrary, oppressive and illegal arrest and classifies him as a prisoner of conscience, and calls for his immediate release.

Syrian Human Rights Committee
18/3/2009