Syrian Police Round Up More Assyrians, 38 Detained
Posted 11-03-2004
Syria (AINA) -- Forty Assyrians have now been detained by Syrian authorities in response to a protest of the murder of two Assyrians in al-Hasaka, Syria. Over 2000 Assyrians held a demonstration in front of the governorate building in al-Hasaka, protesting the murder of Naseem Abraham and Yalda Yacoub. The next day, October 31, the Syrian police detained twenty of the demonstrators. Two of the original detainees were released today, but the Syrian police rounded up 20 other demonstrators on November 2nd and 3rd, bringing the total detained to 40, with 38 still in custody with no charges filed against them.
Background
A personal conflict between an Arab Muslim from the al-Radhi family and an Assyrian Christian from the Abraham family culminated in the murder of an Assyrian man on October 16. The Arab member of the Al-Radhi family enlisted the aid of members of his family and klan, including an officer in the Syrian Army, Mudhar al-Radhi, to attack and kill Naseem Abraham, a 35 year old married Assyrian man. The Arab attackers mutilated Naseem's body, dragged his body in the street, and insulted the Christians in that quarter of the city.
When Naseem's friend Yalda Yacoub, aged 25, rushed to attend to his friend, he was prevented from do so, attacked and shot. He was transferred to the hospital in Damascus. Yalda Yacoub died on the same day at the hospital (story).
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