Syrian human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni called on Saturday for the release of his colleague Khalil Maatuq who was arrested in Damascus last month and has since been held without charge.
Bunni said in a statement received by AFP he was “extremely concerned” for Maatuq, a fellow lawyer and executive director of the Syrian Centre for Legal Research and Studies, who suffers from a “serious illness of the lungs.”
Maatuq and another colleague in the centre, Mohammed Zaza were detained on October 2 on their way to work, he said, adding that Maatuq had not received any visitors and no medicine had been sent to him.
Bunni also expressed concern for lawyers Burhan Saqqal, Samer Idris and Mazen Salah, arrested in previous months.
Security forces in Damascus on Thursday arrested novelist Daher Ayta, who is known for his criticism of the regime, friends of the 46-year-old father of two told AFP.
Tens of thousands of people have been detained in Syria since a revolt broke out against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, without legal charges being filed against a large number of them, rights groups say.
Rights group calls for release of Syrian lawyer
