Syrian activist in Afrin sentenced to three months for insulting Turkish-backed groups
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syrian revolutionary activist Mahmoud Al-Dimashqi on Tuesday was convicted by a military court in the Kurdish region of Afrin to three months in jail for insulting Turkish-backed factions.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the activist, who is originally from Damascus, was arrested a few months earlier in May for criticizing the Turkish-backed military police for wearing Turkish flags on their uniforms, instead of the Syrian Revolution flag.
“The activist was arrested at that time, then he was released after a while until he was brought today before the court of the National Army’s factions,” the SOHR said in a report on Tuesday.
After his arrest in May, Dimashqi wrote on his Facebook page that the Turkish-backed military in Afrin tortured him and that they threatened him while pointing a gun at him, the Violation Documentation Center in North Syria reported.
He also allegedly suffered at the hands of the investigator who beat him while he was handcuffed and blindfolded. Dimashqi added that he was insulted and abused by the judge, Arafat Al-Hammoud, who accused him of “weakening the national sentiment.”
The Syrian activist, Mahmoud Al-Dimashqi, wrote on his FB page that he was tortured by the Military Police elements in Afrin. He said that they threatened him while pointing a gun at him, was beaten brutally on the face by the investigator, where he was handcuffed & blindfolded. pic.twitter.com/ykdwNpoZd0
— VdC-NsY \ Northern Syria (@vdcnsy) May 24, 2020
The Military Court in Jindiris on Tuesday claimed it was possible to reduce his punishment from three months to 15 days, reckoning the time of his detention of May 17 to Aug. 21 and replacing the remainder of the punishment with a fine.
The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) groups took control of Afrin in March 2018 and have been accused of multiple human rights abuses.
Bassam al-Ahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, similarly told Kurdistan 24 that it is not the first time Syrian activists or Kurds from Afrin face arrests or torture at the hands of Turkish-backed factions in Afrin.
“As a human activist and human right organization we condemn this and we call for this activist not to be put on trial for political reasons, which violates the freedom of speech,” Ahmad stated.
There are normally no campaigns calling for the release of civilians arrested by the Turkish-backed militias when they are Kurds. “What happened for this activist (the campaign to release him) was exactly what we call for, and we want this to be for all people facing any violations in Afrin.”
Ahmad said indigenous Kurds from the area “are easily charged and arrested on charges of affiliations to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the local self-administration.”
However, he added that like any other people, Kurds have a right to a lawyer and a fair trial.
This is not the first time that pro-Syrian opposition activists have been arrested who are not originally from Afrin.
In November 2018, the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad Brigade released Syrian media activist Bilal Srewel in Afrin, who is originally from East Ghouta, after allegedly subjecting him to intense torture.
The Sultan Murad Brigade reportedly arrested Srewel for taking pictures without permission in Afrin.
The US State Department has also expressed concerns over reports of abuses by Turkish-backed groups.
This also included human rights abuses in Afrin, “including desecration of several Yezidi shrines, kidnapping for ransom of Yezidi and Kurdish women, and looting and vandalizing of homes and archaeological sites.”
The US State Department continued to raise these alleged violations with Turkey, but so far almost none of the responsible actors have been held accountable for human rights violations.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany