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Em 16 de março, após um “dia de fúria” na Síria, um grupo de cerca de 150 manifestantes reuniram-se na frente do Ministério do Interior, em Damasco, exigindo a libertação de presos políticos. Segundo a BBC, pelo menos 35 dos manifestantes foram presos. Entre os detidos, estava o ativista de direitos humanos Suhair Atassi. De acordo com @assuss:
#Syria Update: Earlier today Syrian security detained famed human rights activist Suheir Atasi after her interview with #Aljazeera #March15
No Twitter, os cidadãos informaram a detenção de outras pessoas que participaram dos protestos. @razaniyat relatou:
Wissam Tarif: Nasreen Al Housien is also detained. She is a student at Damascus University, Faculty of Medicine, fifth Year. #Syria
@wissamtarif observou:
Hasiba Abed Al Rahman aprominent #humanrights defender and writer is also detained. #Syria #March15
Alguns manifestantes foram libertados pouco depois. Na noite de quarta-feira, @razaniyat confirmou:
Confirmed: Mazen Darwish, detained today at the sit-in, was released few minutes ago. #Syria
Confirmed: Mymouna Al Ammar was released a few minutes ago as well. So far two detainees were released. #Syria
No Facebook, um grupo está mantendo a contagem das pessoas detidas, bem como daquelas que já foram libertadas. O número de detentos chega a 38, com confirmação de liberação apenas dos dois citados acima.
Irritado, o blogueiro sírio Khaled Akbik do Middle Eastern Poles compara a forma como o governo sírio trata seus cidadãos ao tratamento dispensado por Israel aos palestinos, dizendo:
To us, you’re no different than our arch-enemy Israel. You do to us everyday what Israel does to the Palestinians everyday. You abused your powers, enslaved your people and stole from them for more than 40 years. You were given a very long chance to make things better and you failed, now your time is up. Now the Syrian people are saying enough. Go back to where you came from because you have clearly failed to rule a nation in every single aspect. Go home while you still can.
A blogueira egípcia Zeinobia do Egyptian Chronicles disse o que pensa sobre os pequenos protestos sírios:
The March 15 in Syria a can be our January 25 , do not underestimate it. If our dear Syrian brothers and sisters managed to protest till Friday , till the Friday prayers it will be a great triumph. Yesterday sources in Syria speak that not less 300 were arrested during and after the protests.
Still despite these arrests the activists did not give up and decided to protest earlier today in front of the ministry of interior itself , yes the ministry of interior demanding the release of the detainees in a very daring step. The families of the detainees joined them already and that means we are speaking about old ladies , young ladies and children.
Ainda assim, apesar das prisões, os ativistas não desistiram e decidiram protestar hoje em frente ao próprio Ministério do Interior – isso mesmo, no Ministério do Interior – exigindo a libertação dos detidos em um passo muito ousado. As famílias dos detidos já uniram-se a eles, o que significa que estamos falando de velhas senhoras, mulheres jovens e crianças.