BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 17 (UPI) -- Arab intellectuals denounced the arrest of Syrian political activist Michel Kilo for signing a document calling for improved Syria-Lebanon ties.
Kilo, also a journalist, was arrested by a Syrian security agency on Sunday and will be referred to trial by a civilian court, though no charges were officially stated.
Lebanon's National News Agency on Wednesday published a statement signed by a group of prominent Arab intellectuals which said Kilo's arrest "falls within the framework of oppressive operations and restriction of freedom of expression and human rights."
The statement said: "We look at the arrest as an expression of political assassination of culture and democracy in Syria as well as peaceful activists seeking democratic change and construction of civilian society that respects the citizens rights."
"The Arab world will not surmount its crisis unless the mentality which considers difference in opinion is a crime is eliminated," it continued.
The statement said the problem of the Syrian regime is the same in Arab countries "where the minimum rules of democracy and basic human rights are violated, leaving our society only one door open, that of religious extremism which only believes in violence."
The intellectuals from Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries called for the release of Kilo and all political prisoners.
