Ribal Al-Assad calls for peaceful transitional democratic change in Syria in AL JAZEERA interview
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Ribal Al-Assad, the Director of the ODFS, has called for peaceful transitional democratic change in Syria in an interview with AL JAZEERA English.
He said:
"People don't want to be reminded of the past. They want change, they want freedom, but they want it peacefully. And the picture they used on Facebook, a clenched fist and red colour like blood behind, it was like people calling for civil war and who in his right mind wants that?
"But of course people want change, because there is poverty, corruption, people get arrested without warrants, the government refuses to disclose their whereabouts for months. They are sentenced following unfair trials, a lot of times with stupid sentences such as 'weakening the nation's morale' for saying 'we want freedom and democracy'. But the only one weakening the nations moral is the government itself."