Syria has released a leading communist dissident after 27 years in jail, a human rights official said on Sunday.
Haitham Naa'l, a member of the disbanded Arab Communist Organization in Syria, was sentenced by a state security court to life imprisonment for plotting sabotage attacks against the interests of a Western country in Damascus. Five other members of the group were sentenced to death and executed.
Aktham Naesa, head of the Committees for Defense of Human Rights, told Reuters that Naa'l, 51, was freed on Friday. Naesa described the move as a "positive but incomplete" step, urging the Syrian authorities to free two other prisoners who were jailed with Naa'l and 10 other political dissidents arrested and convicted over the past year.
"Only the release of all the prisoners can indicate a real breakthrough and a real respect of human rights in Syria," he said.
According to Amnesty International, Na'al, born in 1950, is suffering from intestinal disease including ulcers and has been taken to hospital on many occasions. In addition he suffers from a lung condition and urinary tract disease. Na'al together with his two associates - Faris Murad and 'Imad Shiha – were been imprisoned in July 1975 in connection with their alleged involvement in bombings.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour and during their initial stage of detention they were reportedly tortured and ill-treated apparently to force them to confess to the charges brought against them, Amnesty said. (Albawaba.com)
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