Uncle of Murdered Rights Activist Charged

Syrian defence minister Hasan Turkmani has brought charges against prominent human rights lawyer Khalil Matoq this month, according to an April 10 announcement by the London-based Syrian Organisation for Human Rights, SOHR.



According to the statement, published on SOHR’s website, Matoq was charged after he wrote to President Bashar al-Assad in March urging the government to investigate the murder of his nephew, Sami Matoq.



He asked the president to intervene after the defence minister halted all legal proceedings against security officers in Homs who shot and killed his nephew, who is a human rights activist, as well as his friend Johnny Solomon on October 14.



Matoq is charged with “insulting the president, insulting the general administration and inciting sectarian unrest”, said SOHR. It added that the case has been referred to an investigating judge in the Military Prosecutor General’s Office.



SOHR urged General Turkmani to drop the case against Matoq, arguing: “It’s not logical to sue family members of the victim when the perpetrators remain free.”