Syrian Activists, Rallying in Solidarity with Egypt, Attacked by Mob

There have been reports that Syrian activist Suhair Atassi and her fellow protesters were attacked by a Syrian pro-government mob.  Atassi says that a group of thugs assaulted her and her friends while they held a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the people of Egypt. During the melee, one of the attackers told Atassi that “[Bashar Al] Assad is your president, and if you don’t like it in Syria, you should move to Egypt.” A woman in the pro-government mob attacked Atassi with a belt and yelled expletives at the activists. Syrian police stood by and observed while the violence took place.

The authorities were not sympathetic.  After being beaten, Atassi went to file a complaint at the nearest police station, where a secret police officer ordered everybody but Atassi out of the room.  The officer accused her of working for Israel and engaging in treasonous activities. According to Atassi, "I have never ever heard such nasty words in my life. He slapped me extremely hard on my face, he threatened me and said that he would kill me to make the country safe from insects like me.”

Before leaving the station, Atassi told the officers who had allowed the attack to happen, “You say you are here to serve the people, but I came here to file a complaint about being attacked and I ended up being attacked by you."

Atassi and other activists had planned to continue protesting this afternoon in front of the Parliament building in Damascus - Atassi had said that the assaults and death threats did not dissuade her from fighting the regime. But when the activists met at the Rawada Cafe, the building was surrounded by hundreds of riot police and security service members who prevented them from exiting the building for several hours. Today’s protest was supposed to be in opposition to the exorbitant prices of the telecommunications companies that are entirely controlled by Rami Makhlouf, President Assad's cousin, in a typical example of the Syrian regime’s nepotism. Atassi has organized a series of demonstrations in Damascus in recent weeks in order to familiarize the Syrian people with the Egyptian protests, which are not as well-publicized in Syrian media due to tight government censorship.