Syrian dissident Maleh formally charged

DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Veteran Syrian opposition figure Haytham al-Maleh is under arrest following questioning by military authorities, a Syrian human-rights group said.

Maleh disappeared last week following statements given during a phone interview with opposition television station Barada TV.

"Citizens have no protection from the arbitrary authority and the aggression of the security apparatus," he told the station, which is not based in Syria.

The BBC confirmed the 78-year-old activist was arrested. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said he was formally arrested following his interrogation last week.

BBC analysts said he likely faces no more than three years in prison if convicted for dissent.

Maleh was imprisoned in the 1980s for his role with the local bar association Freedom and Human Rights Committee of the Syrian Lawyers Union.

Human Rights Watch said Syria has a "persistent" record of jailing dissidents despite its foreign policy efforts at engagement.

"Syria is busy welcoming foreign diplomats and talking about peace and development, but to its internal critics, it only unfurls the prison mat," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.