The Syrian Authorities released the reformist writer and civil society activist Michel Kilo yesterday (19/5/2009), after 3 years and 6 days of repressive detainment and a unfair sentence.
 
Mr. Michel Kilo was arrested on the 14/5/2006 due to signing the Damascus-Beirut Declaration. The Criminal court in Damascus sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment, accusing him of weakening the nation’s morale and igniting sectarian tensions.
 
Michel Kilo was subjected to a unique and terrible treatment by the Security Intelligence, which prohibited him from his freedom after he completed three-fourths of his prison sentence, despite the court’s decision on 2/11/2008 to allow him to be released, in addition to the six extra days he was imprisoned by the security department following the end of his detention, despite his severe suffering from the blocking of his bladder by a pebble.

The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) offers its sincere congratulations to Michel Kilo on the occasion of regaining his freedom, and calls upon the Syrian Authorities to put an end to all arbitrary and repressive arrests and the arrest of citizens due to their views, conscience and beliefs, as well as to release all detainees imprisoned for the above reasons.

Syrian Human Rights Committees
19/5/2009