Protests were held on Tuesday in several areas of the Syrian coast, Homs, and Hama, where participants, mostly from the Alawite community, demanded the release of their detained relatives accused by the Syrian government of committing crimes and violations during the rule of the ousted Assad regime.
An official in the Ministry of Information's media relations department told Al Jazeera that internal security units continued their deployment in public squares in Latakia province and several coastal cities to secure the protests.
He explained that these popular movements came in response to similar protests in the coastal region, demanding that the government not be lenient with those proven to have committed crimes and violations against the Syrian people.
The Syrian Ministry of Information official told Al Jazeera that the Syrian Interior Ministry had stressed to its personnel the "necessity of protecting the demonstrators and guaranteeing their right to peacefully express their demands."
Securing the Gatherings
In statements to the media, Interior Ministry spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba said that internal security units secured the protest gatherings in some areas of the Syrian coast to prevent any incidents that could be exploited by those promoting chaos.
He added that "the Ministry of Interior guarantees the right to freedom of expression for all, provided that this expression is within the bounds of the law and does not disrupt civil peace."
He continued, "Those who promote and incite chaos in the coastal regions are all located outside the country and are detached from the living conditions of our people on the coast."
Accordingly, the Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson called on "our people on the coast not to be drawn into schemes whose perpetrators seek only to plunge the region into a spiral of instability."
Criminal or Sectarian?
These demonstrations come a day after sectarian violence in the city of Homs in central Syria, adding to a series of similar disturbances that Syria has witnessed in recent months, following the fall of the Assad family after 50 years of ruling the country with an iron fist.
On Sunday, a couple was found murdered in their home in the town of Zaydal, near Homs (central Syria). The wife's body had been burned, and sectarian slogans were found at the crime scene, according to police.
Alawites were accused of being behind the crime, sparking a wave of violence in several areas of the city, which includes both Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods.
Young men from Bedouin tribes carried out acts of vandalism targeting homes, cars, and shops in predominantly Alawite neighborhoods before authorities imposed a curfew to contain the situation.
The Interior Ministry stated on Monday that the Homs crime that triggered these events was "criminal in nature and not sectarian."
For his part, the Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman told Al Jazeera that internal security forces had arrested more than 120 suspects involved in the recent events in Homs, adding that they would be brought to justice.
Source: Al Jazeera, Agencies, Syrian Press
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.