SOHR demands their immediate release | Al-Raqqah Intelligence keeps detaining three media activists for “communicating with bodies banned by the Autonomous Administration”
SOHR activists have reported that the intelligence service of al-Raqqah city, which is under the control of to the Autonomous Administration in northern and north-eastern Syria, has been still detaining the chief of the information bureau of al-Raqqah Local Council and two members of the bureau, Ossama Khalaf, Mustafa Khalaf and Fayez al-Shuwaykh for the tenth consecutive day. The three media activists were arrested arbitrarily for “dealing with media outlets affiliated with the Syrian regime, communication with Turkish-backed factions and providing video clips and photos of the daily activities in al-Raqqah city and countryside”.
Al-Raqqah intelligence service has not allowed the detainees families to visit them or know their fate.
In case that these charges were true, the media outlets and human rights organizations affiliated with the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) would launch campaigns to call for the release of the detained activists, like they did when other media activists had been arrested previously in Autonomous Administration-held areas. At that time, affiliated media and human rights organizations, backed by several foreign countries, condemned this action and demanded the release of the detainees.
We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, renew our appeals to relevant institutions of the Autonomous Administration to release the three activists immediately.
On October 5, SOHR sources confirmed that the chief of the information bureau of al-Raqqah Local Council and two members of the bureau, Ossama Khalaf, Mustafa Khalaf and Fayez al-Shuwaykh, were detained by the intelligence service of the Autonomous Administration in al-Raqqah for the fourth consecutive day for “dealing with media outlets affiliated with the Syrian regime and communication with Turkish-backed factions”.
Accordingly, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights renewed its appeals to relevant institutions in the Autonomous Administration in northern and north-eastern Syria to release the three activists immediately.
On October 4, SOHR reported that the three activists were arrested for “communicating with bodies banned by the Autonomous Administration”. However, this accusation could not be an excuse for arresting the three people arbitrarily and keeping them in prison, especially since they committed no guilt or crimes.
