MORE CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISTS CHARGED, LABWANI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 002263 SIPDIS SIPDIS PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV SY SUBJECT: MORE CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISTS CHARGED, LABWANI COURT DATE SET, MICHEL KILO ARRESTED REF: (A) DAMASCUS 2133 (B) DAMASCUS 2214 (C) SECSTATE 77093 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d ) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Activists Fateh Jammous, Ali Abdullah, and Mohammed Abdullah appeared May 14 for criminal court proceedings at the Palace of Justice in Damascus. Following a two-hour interrogation, Jammous was initially charged with encouraging sectarian civil war, which carries a life sentence or, should such a conflict take place, the death penalty. The Abdullahs were charged with insulting a court official and criticizing the justice system, charges which carry a possible sentence of six months to two years. All three men remain in custody, with lawyers concerned that the SARG will punish Jammous severely as a dissenting Alawite. The criminal court also set the opening date of activist Kamal Labwani's trial for May 22, giving lawyers less than 10 days to prepare. Meanwhile, arrests continue, as key civil society activist Michel Kilo was arrested the morning of May 15 by State Security agents and has yet to be released. ¶2. (C) JAMMOUS, ABDULLAHS ARRAIGNED AT PALACE OF JUSTICE: Opposition activist Fateh Jammous, as well as father-and-son civil society activists Ali and Mohammed Abdullah appeared May 14 at the criminal court located at the Palace of Justice in Damascus. Approximately 20 human rights lawyers, family members, Poloff and a Dutch diplomat were present at the courthouse, but only three lawyers were allowed into the interrogation room with the defendants. Following a two-hour interrogation by investigative judge Sami Zeinuddin, Jammous, the Alawite leader of the Communist Action Party, was charged with encouraging sectarian civil war, which carries a minimum life sentence. Should a civil war take place, Jammous would be subject to an immediate death sentence. According to human rights lawyer Khalil Maatouk, a member of Jammous's defense team, the charges are based on two public meetings Jammous held in Stockholm and London with Syrian expatriates to discuss the current situation in Syria. According to Maatouk, the SARG's evidence file included verbatim transcripts of the discussions held during these meetings, suggesting that an audience member had recorded and passed on the recordings to SARG authorities. After much deliberation, the presiding judge ruled that Jammous must remain in SARG custody. Jammous was in high spirits and looked physically well, although another defense team lawyer, Sereen Khoury, noted that Jammous had told her he was suffering from health problems. Jammous is currently detained at Adraa Prison. ¶3. (C) The Abdullahs were interrogated for nearly two hours by investigative judge Khaled al-Hamood. Human rights activist and defense lawyer Rezan Zeituneh detailed the Abdullahs' journey through the Syrian prison system since their arrest on March 23: after spending three days being interrogated by State Security agents, both men were held separately in solitary confinement at Sednaya Prison for 29 days, and were later reunited. They were transferred to Adra prison on or about May 10. According to human rights activist Anwar al-Bunni, the men face charges of insulting a court official and criticizing the justice system, charges which carry a possible sentence of six months to two years. A press release by the National Human Rights Organization (NHRO) detailed the Abdullahs' hearing, noting that the charges stem from a March 22 incident outside the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC),during which authorities claim Mohammed Abdullah cursed the State of Emergency after police officers struck individuals waiting to see their family members. Chief judge Faez an-Nouri then summoned Ali Abdullah to his office, during which time Nouri questioned the elder Abdullah about his son's actions and threatened to hit Mohammed if such an incident takes place again. Both men were arrested the following day. During their interrogation, the investigative judge also questioned the Abdullahs as to whether they had incited a riot at the SSSC, an accusation which they denied. Both men were in good physical condition and were laughing and telling jokes with family and fellow activists. As the men are still facing charges at the Supreme State Security Court (ref A),the presiding judge decided to continue holding the men in custody until the courts can resolve which has precedence. According to Zeituneh, Syrian law does not allow two different courts to try the same case simultaneously. ¶4. (C) LAWYERS CONCERNED THAT JAMMOUS MAY FACE SECT-BASED RETALIATION, CAN'T EXPLAIN "DOUBLED" ABDULLAH CASE: Human rights lawyers are concerned about all three cases, particularly that of Jammous, who, as an Alawite, may be DAMASCUS 00002263 002 OF 002 targeted by the SARG for especially harsh punishment. Bunni compared Jammous's case to that of the lone remaining Damascus Spring (DS) detainee, Aref Dalilah, whose ten-year jail sentence for his DS activities is perceived by the human rights community as the SARG's revenge for breaking with the Alawite ranks. (NOTE: All other DS activists received three to five year sentences.) Activists were at a loss to explain why the Abdullah case was being pursued at both the SSSC and the criminal court. A family friend of Jammous surmised to Poloff that the SARG's decision to try the cases in criminal court was an effort to paint opposition members as "common criminals" and make long-term sentencing much easier, noting that the same tactic had been used against DS activists Riad Seif and Mamoun al-Homsi in 2001. ¶5. (C) LABWANI TRIAL DATE SET: The Criminal Court also announced on May 14 that activist Kamal Labwani's trial will commence May 22, following his May 11 hearing (ref B). Lawyers were surprised at the announcement, noting that it was an unusually quick decision and would give lawyers less than 10 days to prepare for the case. ¶6. (C) KEY ACTIVIST MICHEL KILO DETAINED: Meanwhile, the SARG continued its wave of arrests, as key civil society activist and intellectual Michel Kilo was arrested by State Security agents on May 15 at approximately 1 AM, and has yet to be released. Bunni told Poloff that the arrest may be connected to Kilo's work on the Damascus-Beirut Declaration, which was released last week. (NOTE: Post is working on a translation of the document.) ¶7. (C) COMMENT: The SARG has apparently added public show trials to its repertoire of crackdown methods, preferring to "transparently" move against its critics in an open court of law rather than in the closed-door SSSC proceedings, to which only diplomats and lawyers are allowed access. Activists and prisoner families have noted, however, that the upper echelons of the SARG influence criminal court verdicts as much as they do at the SSSC. Press access to criminal court cases has been limited in the past, most famously in the Seif/Homsi case, during which only reporters for the state-owned SANA were allowed into the courtroom. Furthermore, the decision to try Jammous, who is vocally against Western intervention and influence in Syria, on capital charges shows that the SARG will not limit severe punishment to pro-Western activists like Labwani. Human rights lawyers will have their hands full over the next ten days, as the Labwani trial opens, human rights activist Haithem al-Maleh's sentencing is set for May 25, and Kilo's fate is decided. SECHE