Free Michel Kilo Now - Enough Already

By Maureen

It is Dr Kamal Labwani’s 50th birthday on 10th October. I suggest that we inundate ‘Adra Prison, near Damascus, Syria with postcards sending him our greetings. I am also compiling a list of names of people who wish to send him goodwill messages and I will forward this to his family so that they may let him know he is not forgotten on his 50th. If you wish to be on the list, please send your name and town/country to mhudsonthomas@yahoo.co.uk

I remember 13 month ago, someone very active on Syria Comment (won’t name him) that if Aoun wins in Lebanon Michel Kilo will be free!

So my question after yesterday’s Metn Elections! why is Michel still in Jail and why everyone is mute about all the Syrian political prisoners…nothing in the news despite Syria’s regional stronger position on paper and not being the target of political isolation anymore!

What would it take for the ruling idiots in Syria to release harmless citizens? Enough: Free Michel, Kamal, Anwar, Aref and all the others and move on with the 21st century! and please solve the electricity problem as well…Syrians deserve a better environment for their progress…enough obstruction and subjugation!

First, I apologize from my readers for not posting anything recently. Second I want to thank my new job (started 5 weeks ago) for not allowing me to surf for news like before and certainly I don’t have the freedom to blog as much. Third I am so happy that my new job had totally distracted me from politics and reading arabic sites and opinions with all the depression that they bring along. I don’t have the same attention span or motivation to be passionate, let the region be the region and the people ruled by oppressors.

 Let the area be shared and dominated by foreign powers and interests along with the resistance wannabees and trouble makers. If the people decide to rally behind their rulers then why not let them suffer the consequences; and if the leaders want to play games to look important then let them enjoy their fake glories…it is all comedy and an act to suck the region out of its blood; and keep us always in the last wagon of civilization.

Oops I am getting pationate again, sorry. About Michel Kilo, Kamal Labwani and all the idiots who decided to speak for a better society, why did they bother since no one is there to think about them except for rare occasions. It seems like the mood now is a complete Syrian-Iranian victory in both Lebanon and Iraq, as well as Palestine even though the dream was destroyed. Syrians in jail, who cares!!! a small price to pay for Syrian regional role. Assad is and will be forever just like the people want!

 I am very confused with the US tacid approval of what is going on!!!!!!!!!!! not that I ever liked the US middle eastern policies but it looks like the axis of evil in their eyes is unchallenged these days. Confusion Confusion Confusion but I am so relieved that it is very quiet on the Israeli front and there is no repeat of the Lebanese disastrous war of last year. The month of May was scary and promising an ugly summer in Lebanon but now it is pretty well contained despite some casualties…it is minor losses in the big chess board.

As for Syria, Assad has graduated from the Junior league to be an important regional player ready to serve his purpose for American policies (even though he looks like he is standing up to them, he exists to forment needed instability in the region) for another 40 years. Like Father like son and the people of Syria pay a heavy price but no one is raising a finger except the cheer leaders who refuse to see our potential being crushed.

But the reason I started this post was a great arabic article that I received about a webworld which I never heard about “Second life” but I love its conclusion , about how the arabic world needs virtual worlds to escape their tragedis and dissapointments!!!!

هل ستنتهي حروب القتل والدمار أخيراً، أم ستنشأ حروب فيروسية والكترونية من نوع جديد، وقد بدأت معالم بعض هذه الحروب الالكترونية القادمة بالظهور خلف حدود الحياة الثانية، مؤكدةً أصالة الغريزة العدوانية لدى البشر؟ ألا يكفينا الفقر الروحي والاجتماعي الذي اجتاح عالمنا الحقيقي في عصر الأنترنيت وثقافة الدولار؟ لاأدري. وبالنسبة لي، اتخذت قراري بعدم الدخول مجددا أبداً إلى الحياة الثانية، مع أنني، فكرت كثيراً، كم نحتاج في عالمنا العربي إلى عوالم افتراضية نهرب إليها من مآسينا وخيباتنا الكثيرة.

Here is the full article in Arabic and it is great to be preoccupied and distracted from never ending problems! specially the headaches of politics and tragedies…Michel and Kamal and their friends, I hope they have fans or aircondition!!!! so it is not like burning hell over at your five star jails. You in jail is really making us beat up imperialism and zionism and complement our glorified resistance so please enjoy your sacrifice!

Saint encouraged me to make what Maureen wrote a new post, makes sense since it seems that the country is too festive to talk about our own prisoners. Let’s hope they get their due freedom soon…

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Talking of nightmares, and having the courage to go on - here is a message sent by Kamal Labwani’s family to the CIVICUS World Assembly held in Glasgow, Scotland last weekend. It was attended by about 1,000 delegates and all of them were given a petition on a postcard to send to the Syrian government demanding the release of all prisoners of conscience in Syrian jails. The family’s message was written shortly before their father was sentenced to 12 years detention.

“The crime our father has committed is that of expressing his opinion. Among other things, he criticized the lack of freedom in our country, the corruption, the poor education system and the longest state of emergency in the world – 40 years.

Our father was detained and sentenced for three years in 2001. When they released him in September 2004, six of his friends remained in prison and he campaigned for their release. Five were released after appreciable pressure by several NGOs like your organization, and foreign governments. Unfortunately, one of the six, Prof. Aref Dalila, remains in prison with a sentence of ten long years.

Our father was arrested again and now he is being charged with an accusation that can sentence him to prison for life or cause him to be executed if Syria becomes involved in a war.

But they didn’t imprison his scent, which we detect in every corner of the house, in his books and in our souls. They didn’t imprison his ideas and his hunger for freedom. They cannot detain his right to dream of a better country where all people are equal before the law. Our Dad still dreams in prison – and thousands of people share the same dream.

Dreams can’t be captured, but sometimes fear can turn dreams into nightmares. Yes, we share your dream, Father, but our daily life has become a nightmare. He smiled when he heard us say this (after he had been shut up for 18 days in solitary confinement in terrible conditions) and told us, ‘Freedom has a price’ and ‘I want you to have the kind of dreams that free people have.’ And then he whispered, ‘Even dreams are different when you live in a free country and I am willing to pay the price so that you may discover this for yourselves, my dears.’

I tell you no secret when I say that we miss him. We miss his daily presence and sometimes we feel not only sad, but angry. When so much injustice is practised one tries to tolerate it, but it takes courage because it is so unfair. People like yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, make anger vanish and dreams possible. Thank you for sharing our sorrows and our dreams.”

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For people who are unaware, Kamal was harshly sentenced to 12 years, so he’ll be in prison for the next referendum and may be 3 rounds of the selection of the people’s assembly. Are the authorities using the post cards to decorate their offices? Will Assad denie the existence of prisoners the next time he speaks some English on TV??? some Egyptian friend was fooled by his innocent young look and was like man isn’t Syria lucky!!!!!!

 Our thoughts are with Kamal, Michel, Aref, Anwar, Faek, Mahmood and all the free people even though some thugs decided to place them in jail in the name of stability! and steadfastness and false nationalism. Also our prayers are for their families who are suffering tremendously.

The Golan was lost 40 years ago in a stupid war because of ignorant leaders, provocative slogans, empty speeches and false rethorics. Having free people in prison is not the way to get the land back or to solve the challenges that Syria faces internally and externally.

I am jumping from joy now, Thanks Bashar you are so generous and a true reformer. But the Syrian people are the idiots for allowing you to imprison them and rule them without any mercy. The people like us who have hopes in better Syria are even double idiots for having just dreamed of shaking the status quo of the last 40+ years.

I salute Michel Kilo’s courage and I hope that this sentence (along with that of Labwani, Bunni, Dalila and all the other regime experimentation people) will be the beggining of the end for the oppressive baathist rule.

Tizz 3aleik Ya Assad Ya Jaban Ya Harami Ya kazab.

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Update: the insult above is of the light weight, I keep the heavy ones unwritten.

For people who are sad by this news, here is some humour for you

وقال الدكتور فيصل مقداد معاون وزير الخارجية اليوم في الجلسة الختامية التي ناقشت شؤون المغتربين “إذا كان هناك فساد في السفارات والقنصليات السورية في الخارج فأنتم تتحملون جزءا منها كما نتحمل نحن لأنكم لم تخبرونا بها”.

وأضاف مقداد “قلنا للدبلوماسيين السوريين الذين أرسلناهم العام الماضي : أنتم خدم للسوريين الموجودين في المناطق التي سنرسلكم إليها، ولولا ذلك لم يكن هناك حاجة لإرسالكم”، وأضاف “وقلنا لهم: إذا دخل المواطن السوري عليكم مطأطأ الرأس لسبب أو لآخر يجب أن لا يخرج إلا وهو مرفوع الرأس“.

وتابع المقداد في كلمة مقتضبة خلال الجلسة “نحن لا نرتاح لأي سفير أو دبلوماسي يغلق باب مكتبه في وجه المغتربين السوريين ويجلس في كرسيه الوثير”، وزاد مخاطبا المغتربين “نحن نتابع قضاياكم

ونهتم بكم، وثقوا أنكم في وطنكم أينما كنتم”.

Very hystercial and super funny. Faisal Mikdad, foreign affairs assistant and ex-UN ambassador wants Syrian expats to have their heads high up from pride and consider Syria our country whereever we are. Two Answers for you: a) How can we be proud of our country when we keep hearing about people being imprisoned left and right and human rights in Syria is a joke and your agents are calling people traitors and agents. b) how can expats be happy when they have to pay huge sums of money to be able to visit their country, not to mention no one can protect them from your random accusations if their names show up on your files???

Another humour is some bloggers remembered the Golan after 40 years of occupation want to campaign to have the Golan back on the same day and week where people inside Syria are unjustely sentenced. What the use of this campaign when Syrian rulers paranoia and lack of wisdom are contributing to the miserable state of the nation. Or we can only campaign for what pleases the regime??? instead of waisting our energy in different directions, why not try to free the prisoners by getting organized and not accept any regime policies even though it seems like they care for the nation (it is only an illusion and a diversion). Also why not campaign to get Assad and his mafia out of the country for good…Liberating Syria is a better and more noble cause than Getting the Golan back. People in Syria and outside seem to forget that Daddy  Assad sold the Golan for the unconditional rule of Syria and he renewed the agreement for Bashar to be in power (Geneva 2000). Every thing else and the negotiations are just a charade to brain wash the new generations.

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Update 2: Hashem knows them so well:

Yet again, evil tactics by this awful bunch of oppressors, traitors to their own country, this horrific Syrian regime.

Of course they timed it right after Lebawni’s sentence so Michel’s doesn’t look bad. Most of this regime deserve more than 3 years in prison. Their stench stinks to the highest heaven. These are the traitors in action, suckers to the real enemies of the country, oppressors to its true heroes.

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Update 3: Let’s borrow some of their language since they forget to think it applies to them, Buthaina Shaaban today in Asharqalwsat.com

ما ذنب «نجاة النادي» إذا كانت أنشأت ابنها على الإيمان بحقوقه وترابه وأرضه؟ وما ذنب حامد عارف سليم إذا كان ابنه رجائي يأبى الذل والهوان ويكافح للخلاص من احتلال بغيض؟ وما هو الحل لتلك ولهذا، إذا لم ينقل العرب معاناتهم إلى العالم؟

فمن يتبرع بالوقت والجهد لمثل هذا العمل النبيل؟ ولمن يقول لا ينشرون لنا، فإن هذا العذر لم يعد مقبولاً في عصر الإعلام الالكتروني.

Poor woman, I feel for her, she cries every day for tragedies in Iraq and Palestine, forgetting that tragedies are happening within Syria:like the buildings that keep collapsing on Syrian familes in Aleppo with dead children inside, or the uprooting of old Damascus or the people who have to leave the country to find work.  She in her fake sorrow over Guatanamo prisons and Abu Ghraib forgets the Syrian citizens that she contributes to imprisoning by being a regime face. Thank you Assarqalawsat for publishing obvious hyprocrisy, Buthaina I should invite you to cry for Michel Kilo, Kamal Labwani, Dr Dalila and Anwar Al bunni because they too have mothers that cry for them (some of them died without seeing their sons in Prison) and it is easy to blame Israel but it is not easy to blame our own disgusting rulers that use you for decoration.

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Update 4: What Happened in court:

“We are not criminals, we are patriotic people,” said Michel Kilo from behind bars after Judge Zaher Al-Bakri of the Damascus Criminal Court read out the verdict.  He and Mahmoud Issa, a translator, were convicted and then sentenced to three years in prison each for spreading false news, weakening national feeling and inciting sectarian sentiments. Two other activists, Suleiman Shummar and Khalil Hussein, were sentenced in absentia for 10 years in jail on similar charges. The rulings bring to six the number of government critics and human rights campaigners to be convicted and sentenced in the last month, despite American and European calls for Assad to stop harassing activists and release political prisoners. Kilo and Issa flashed victory signs and gave thumbs-up as the packed courtroom, containing Western diplomats, broke out in loud applause to show their defiance with the court’s ruling. Syrian security guards tried to restore calm and hurriedly emptied the courtroom.  “This is a crime against us and against Syria,” Kilo, wearing a gray suit, told The Associated Press.  His wife, Wadiaa Awad, said she was surprised by the sentence. “Michel has a long history of nationalism and moderation.