Syrian human rights defender Aktham Naisse, President of the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria (CDF) appeared in court on 24 April 2005. His trial was postponed for a third time until the 26th of June 2005 for sentencing. Two Kurdish human rights activists Shevan Abdo and Massaab Hariri were also due to go on trial the same day but their trials were postponed. Both activists are from the town of Qamishli.
The defence counsel have argued that the charges are unconstitutional and that Aktham is being persecuted due to his democratic principles and his promoting the protection of human rights. There were approximately 200 Syrians protesting outside the Supreme State Security Court in Damascus during the hearing and the area was sealed off by 50-riot police. There were a number of international observers present including Nasser Amin, Director of the Arab centre for Independence of Judiciary who represented Front Line. Representatives of the European Commission delegation in Syria were also present.
