DAMASCUS - Chanting "freedom, freedom," about 200 Syrians staged a protest outside a Damascus state security court Sunday where a prominent human rights campaigner accused of opposing the state was on trial.
The area was sealed off by about 50 riot police as demonstrators, including many Kurds, carried posters of the defendants and banners denouncing the emergency law in force in Syria since the Baath party took power in 1963.
Among three activists on trial Sunday was prominent campaigner Aktham Naisse, who faces between three years and life in jail if convicted on charges of activities against the state.
Naisse, who heads the Committee for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria, was detained in April 2004 after he organised a rare demonstration calling for the lifting of the emergency laws.
He was freed on bail after five months in detention.
Foreign diplomats and representatives of international organisations attended his trial, which was adjourned until June 26, lawyer Anwar Bunni said.
His group denounced the court as "illegal and unconstitutional" and said Naisse's trial "raises many questions over promised political reforms and the ability of the Syrian authorities to deal with challenges."
Also on trial at the court was Kurd Shevan Abdo, who was arrested following bloody clashes in northern Syria in March 2004. Demonstrators cheered and chanted "freedom, freedom" as he arrived in court in a prison van.
The court also heard from the defence team of Massaab Hariri, who has been in detention for three years. His father is wanted for being a member of banned Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood.
Human rights groups have repeatedly called for the release of detainees, as well as the scrapping of the security court and the emergency law.
The last protest by Syrian opposition and human rights activists was in Damascus on March 10, when protestors accused the authorities of preventing them from expressing their opinion peacefully by engulfing them with pro-regime demonstrations.
04/24/2005 13:57 GMT