On Olives and Sake

My last post was titled #FreeRazan. And today’s will be #FreeHussein, our friend, and Razan’s colleague at the SCMFE. The irony, that bloody irony!

Between them, many, faceless and nameless, have been detained, expelled and brutally murdered. Many that have not been given the honorary hashtag. Many that are being slowly broken in the dungeons of Syria’s own fascist incarnation. But make no mistake, we are by no means more free.

With every new detainee, our country, that idea of country, chokes a little bit more. With every new detainee, our own incarceration becomes a little tighter, and our exile a little less bearable. To liberate them is to deliver ourselves from this nightmare, and to bring back to this land its lifeline. Make no mistake, #FreeRazan, #FreeBassel or #FreeHusssein, all mean the same thing:

بدنا ياهن، بدنا الكل
We want them back, we want them all

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Syrian Blogger Hussein Ghrer on Hunger Strike

We received information that Syrian blogger Hussein Greer began a hunger strike to protest his continued incarceration after spending more than five months in detention cells as of the date of this statement.

Ghrer was detained on 16-2-2012 in a raid on Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression’s office in Damascus by Air Force Intelligence – Mazzah branch. This is Ghrer’s second arrest; he was detained on 24-10-2011 and released on 1-12-2011 on bail and is still on trial.

We, Syrian and Arab bloggers as well as bloggers in solidarity with Hussein and his case, demand the immediate and unconditional release of our colleague in detention, blogger and friend Hussein Ghrer especially since more than four months had passed without pressing charges against. His four-month long detention far exceeds the maximum legal limits for incarceration without court referral which is set to 60-days according to Syrian law.

We also call for the release of Ghrer’s colleagues at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and all detainees and prisoners being held at security branches and civil and military prisons, especially those whose detention has exceeded sixty days. We condemn all forms of torture exercised by the Shabiha and security agents against the detainees and prisoners in Syrian cells.

Full statement here.