Khaddam: “This verdict reflects the state of suffocation, anxiety, and narrowness that the Syrian regime is experiencing due to its internal isolation and the citizens’ hatred for the regime, which has turned Syria into a large prison and increased the suffering of its people due to its tyranny and corruption.”
The former Vice President of Syria, Abdul Haleem Khaddam, considers that the life imprisonment verdict issued against him in absentia in Damascus reflects the “state of suffocation” that the Syrian regime is experiencing and its “internal isolation.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a statement by Khaddam commenting on the life imprisonment verdict issued against him in absentia by the military criminal court in Damascus.
Khaddam stated: “This verdict reflects the state of suffocation, anxiety, and narrowness that the regime is experiencing in Syria due to its internal isolation and the citizens’ hatred for the regime, which has turned Syria into a large prison and increased the suffering of its people due to its tyranny and corruption.”
In the statement issued by his press office, Khaddam affirmed that “this action and others will not intimidate him or undermine his determination.” Earlier, lawyer Hussam al-Din al-Habbash stated that “the first military criminal court in Damascus unanimously issued its decision to sentence Khaddam to 13 different prison terms, the harshest being life imprisonment with hard labor” according to the source. CNN reported that Khaddam criticized in his statement what was mentioned in the judicial verdict about his “communication with a foreign state and incitement to aggression against Syria,” accusing the Syrian regime of “neglecting Syria’s independence, sovereignty, and dignity by using repression to protect and perpetuate itself.”
Khaddam also responded to the accusation of contacting Israel by saying: “The Syrians and the Arab public are aware of the role that Israel plays in protecting the corrupt and tyrannical ruling regime and the pressures it exerts to break its isolation and open the door to dialogue with it,” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.