Liberation publishes Yazbek’s testimony on Syrian jails, featured earlier in The Guardian. As an introduction, journalist Ayad explains the context of the event.

Two huge men entered the room. They stood in readiness, in plainclothes. One of them stood to the right and the other to the left. With a signal from his eyes, each seized me by the shoulders, though not roughly. They seized me as if I were some object, easy for them to move. I did not resist when they started to lift me out of my chair.

There is an exaggerated fear of democracy, but democracy is in fact the ultimate and ideal solution for protecting all minorities. During the last three months the Syrians have proved that they are not going to embark on the path of sectarian violence despite attempts to incite it. This is a truth that everyone must understand, and Syrian history bears eloquent witness to this fact.

Sindbad editions (Actes Sud), specializing in the translation of modern Arabic literature, has just published a book that is very relevant in the challenging times through which Syria is going at this very moment.

“The regime is still the ’80s, the Cold War, and treats us like a herd of sheep who do not deserve to make demands of freedom. The president, whom all called ‘young’, has chosen to refer to that past, and lost credit. ”

he president is not the young man who was said to have modern and reformist tendencies, but a dictator like the others, unable to understand what was happening in front his eyes, ready to kill half of his people to remain in power, thinking he is the only one to have the right to decide what reforms the country needs and when to grant them to his subjects as a reward.