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On 10 Feburary 2010 Abdul Rahman Koki was sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges of "offending the authority of the State and insulting the President of the republic", amongst others. However, the sentence was most likely due to his political and religious views.
Alkarama has been closely following his case since late October 2009 and originally submitted his case as an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) and the Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Expression on 2 December 2009. Seeking further intervention, Alkarama sent his case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on 13 January 2010.
Alkarama takes this opportunity to remind the Syrian authorities of their responsibility towards international human rights law and that they release all prisoners of conscience.