Riot in Tartus Prison over death sentences

(Zaman al-Wasl) Zaman al-Wasl learnt that regime forces imposed a security cordon around Tartus central prison on Sunday afternoon following some of the political prisoners carrying out an insurrection. The political prisoners managed to gain control of the entire prison after breaking down room and wing doors. 

The source clarified that the insurrection started as the political prisoners prevented security forces from taking one of the detainees to execute him based on a death sentence issued in his right from the military field court. The detainees insurrected to prevent the execution of other death sentences against other detainees. The source indicated that the political prisoners suffer from bad treatment and difficult detention circumstances where the regime holds around 400 political prisoners in the damp basement of the prison. 

The detainees conditioned their ending the deadlock on the regime halting all executions of death sentences, not referring any of their cases to the military field court in Damascus, and improving the conditions of their detention. 

Tartus central prison is located within Tartus city, and it is a building composed of three floors. Around 800 detainees and arrested persons are held in the prison, of them over 400 are political prisoners and among the political prisoners 150 are from the city of Banias.