April 28, 2010 – On November 15, 2009, the Second Criminal Court in Damascus sentenced Mistefa Cumaa Bekir, Mihemed Seîd Hisên el-Umer and Seedun Mehmud Şêxo, leading members of the Kurdish Freedom Party in Syria (Azadî), to three years imprisonment each pursuant to Article 285 of the Criminal Code and to six months imprisonment each pursuant to Article 307 of the Criminal Code. Furthermore all of their civil rights were revoked. The penalties were combined and the more severe penalty is to be carried out. On January 10, 2009, Mistefa Cumaa Bekir was detained in the Farʿ Filastin prison, a branch of the Military Intelligence Service in Damascus. His fellow party members, Mihemed Seîd Hisên el-Umer and Seedun Mehmud Şêxo, were arrested on October 26, 2008 in Rumailan and Raʾs al-ʿAin (Serê Kaniyê) respectively. [Download PDF]