During the second year of his journalism studies, Massud Hamed, a 29-year-old Syrian student, had posted photos of a peaceful Kurdish demonstration in front of the UNICEF headquarters in Damascus in a Kurdish website. On 24 July 2003, during an exam at Damascus University, the local police arrested him, and on 10 October 2004, he was sentenced to three years in prison after he was found guilty of “membership of a secret organization” and having “attempted to annexe part of Syrian territory to another country”.

According to RSF, Hamed “was repeatedly tortured in the months following his arrest, chiefly by being beaten on the soles of his feet with a studded whip, which has left him with his feet completely paralyzed. He also suffers from vertigo and headaches and his eyesight is failing because he has not been allowed to wear his glasses.”

RSF has appealed to the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amre Moussa, to intervene on his behalf with the Syrian authorities. However, Mohammed thinks that Moussa will do nothing about this. (Thanks to Mohammed for pointing to this)