Syria releases Iranian prisoners to give room for political detainees: Iranian sources

Al Arabiya ^ | Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2011 | Hadi Tarfi, tr from Arabic by Sonia Farid

[SunkenCiv]

The escalation of protests calling for the ouster of the regime and the subsequent increase in the number of political detainees in the country necessitated providing more space in Syrian prisons. For this reason, all Iranian prisoners were sent back home.

Thousands of Iranian prisoners serving jail sentences mainly on drugs and riot charges have been released by the Syrian authorities and returned home, said a source that spoke to Al Arabiya on condition of anonymity...

According to the source, this unexpected step aims at emptying Syrian prisons that are now ready to receive as many revolutionaries and political activists as possible.

Syrian opposition statistics confirm that the number of political detainees has so far reached 100,000, the majority of which kept in deplorable conditions.

The number of prisoners confirmed by U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Nafy Bilari was 14,000.

According to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, the detainees are usually subjected to extreme torture and many of them die in the process and some are thrown in the streets.

The observatory announced finding Saturday the bodies of four Syrian citizens, who were arrested Friday night by security forces and regime thugs, thrown in the streets of the city of al-Hawla in the governorate of Homs. The bodies showed signs of torture.

A fifth citizen, the observatory added, was also found in a critical condition.

[SunkenCiv]

Thousands of Iranian prisoners serving jail sentences mainly on drugs and riot charges have been released by the Syrian authorities and returned home. (File photo)

[SunkenCiv]

I think it sez 14,000.