Human rights defenders, including some lawyers, have encountered harassment and persecution for carrying out their professional activities. Egypt has continued to maintain an elaborate system of special courts, which undermines the jurisdiction of regular courts.
Despite the existence of constitutional and legal provisions guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary, the executive continues to exercise improper interference in the judicial domain.
The ICJ today expressed its dismay to Bashar al Assad that Habib Issa, founding member of the Human Rights Association, was sentenced by the Syrian Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) to five years’ imprisonment.
The ICJ is dismayed that Habib Issa, a Syrian lawyer and founding member of the Human Rights Association, was sentenced on 19 August to five years imprisonment by the Syrian Supreme State Security Court for – among other charges – attempting to change the constitution by illegal means.
The ICJ urges Syrian authorities to end the harassment of a prominent human rights lawyer, Haythem Al-Maleh, whose only crime was the lawful and proper representation of an individual engaged in political opposition to the current regime.
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