DAMASCUS: A Syrian court on Sunday jailed for three years a human rights lawyer who worked for Amnesty International for "publishing false information," rights groups said, condemning the ruling.
"The military court on Sunday sentenced Haytham al-Maleh to three years in prison on charges of spreading false information liable to undermine the morale of the nation," the non-governmental organizations said in a joint statement.
Maleh was arrested in Damascus on October 14 last year, and was investigated by the military court over "articles he had written."
The lawyer had been imprisoned from 1980 to 1986, along with a large number of trade unionists, activists and political opponents for demanding constitutional reforms.
He has worked with Amnesty International since 1989 and, in 2001, helped to establish the Syrian Human Rights Association (ADHS), whose activities have been frozen for more than three years.
Amnesty, the London-based international rights watchdog, issued a statement condemning the sentence.
"As someone who did no more than peacefully express his views on the political and human rights situation in Syria, he should not have been put on trial in the first place, let alone shut up behind bars at the age of 78," Philip Luther, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in the statement.
"Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and we will be redoubling our campaign for his immediate and unconditional release," he added.
Separately, in their joint statement, the Syrian rights groups expressed "shock at this unjust and harsh sentence… which ignores (the) legitimate right" to hold an opinion.
"The Syrian authorities appear determined to harshly pursue Syrian activists, which does not respect international agreements and treaties on human rights," they added.
