DAMASCUS:
Syria has released Syrian-American blogger Razan Ghazzawi on bail two weeks
after her arrest as she was heading to Jordan to attend a conference on press
freedoms, a media rights group said on Monday.
"Razan
Ghazzawi was released from detention at 10:30 pm (2030 GMT) Sunday on bail of
15,000 Syrian pounds (around 300 dollars)," the Syrian Center for Media
and Free Expression said on its website.
Syrian
authorities arrested Ghazzawi at the border with Jordan on December 4 as she
headed to Amman to take part in a workshop on press freedom in the Arab world,
activists said.
She
was referred to court and charged on three counts of "establishing an
organization that aims to change the social and economic status of the
state," weakening national sentiment, and stirring racial and religious
dissent, according to the center.
In
its statement on Monday, the media center urged the authorities to drop the
charges against Ghazzawi and any court proceedings.
Ghazzawi,
31, works for the center and, if tried and found guilty, could face three to 15
years in jail.
She
has been blogging on her Razaniayat website since 2009 and has expressed strong
criticism of the Syrian regime, which has faced unprecedented pro-democracy
protests since mid-March.
The
United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in the
regime's crackdown.
Syria says it is battling
"armed terrorist" groups.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2011/Dec-19/157303-syria-releases-blogger-on-bail-media-rights-group.ashx#axzz1gtLKaQwu
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