15 Jordanians released from Syrian jails

By Omar Obeidat and Raed Omari

AMMAN - Syrian authorities on Sunday freed 15 Jordanian prisoners under the general amnesty issued last week by President Bashar Assad, a human rights activist said on Sunday.

Abdul Karim Shraideh, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR), told The Jordan Times yesterday that out of the 250 Jordanians serving prison terms in Syria, 15 were set free.

Shraideh said Abdul Rahman Bashabsheh from Ramtha District was the first prisoner to cross the Jordanian border after serving a four-year prison term in Syria on suspicion of working for the Israeli Mossad.

But Atef Bashabsheh said that his relative Abdul Rahman has spent over 10 years in jail and that he was taken into custody by Syrian police over charges related to damaging the country’s national economy.

“He was 18 years old when he disappeared in Syria where he went to import products from there,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He said that he received a phone call from Abdul Rahman yesterday informing him about the news.

The AOHR’s lawyer added that the other 14 prisoners also arrived in the Kingdom during the afternoon.

“Names of the freed prisoners is still not available to the AOHR and we are still following up on the issue,” he said.

Pointing out that tens of Jordanian prisoners have been behind bars for over 20 years and that some of them never stood for trial, he added that three women are still behind bars: Wafaa Obeidat, Yusra Hayek and Shikha Hayek.

He said that the amnesty decision by Assad should include all Jordanian prisoners there, stressing that the organization will continue its efforts to ensure their freedom.

6 June 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=38203.