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On 3 November 2011, human rights defender Mr Joan Sulayman Ayu was interrogated by the Damascus First Investigating Magistrate.

Further Information

He was subsequently charged with involvement in acts aiming to "incite racial and sectarian strife", in accordance with the provisions of Article 286 of the Syrian Criminal Act, and belonging to an organisation "established with the intention of changing the economic and social entity of the State". After filing these charges, the Investigating Magistrate remanded Joan Sulayman Ayu in pre-trial detention at Adra Prison in Damascus.

On 4 September 2011, Joan Sulayman Ayu, a member of the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (CDF Syria), was arrested by the Syrian security forces following a raid on his house in Ras al Ayn in the city of Hasaka. He was initially held incommunicado at Hasaka Political Security Branch Detention Centre from where he was moved to the central prison in Hasaka. On 11 September he was transferred to the Department of Political Security Detention Centre in Damascus. If convicted Joan Sulayman Ayu faces a prison term of at least 7 years solely due to his legitimate human rights work with the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria.

Ridwan Uthman Sido, a human rights lawyer and member of the board of trustees of the Kurdish Human Rights Committee in Syria, was released. He was arrested by the Syrian security forces on 24 August 2011 as he was returning to Syria following a family visit to Turkey.

For further information on this case, please see the original appeal dated 8 September 2011.