July 22, 2009 - Daily Star - Assad urged to free man arrested over Hariri killing

BEIRUT: Amnesty International urged Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday to order the release of Ziad Ramadan unless he is to be given a prompt, fair trial. According to the Syrian authorities, Ziad Ramadan, a Syrian national, was detained in connection with the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005, in Beirut.
However, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the court established to try those accused of responsibility for the killing, told Amnesty International in May 2009 that it does not consider Ramadan a suspect, but simply as a witness because of his association with someone of interest to the Tribunal?s investigation, and has not requested his detention.
?Amnesty International considers it to be high time that Ziad Ramadan is released unless he is to be brought to trial promptly and fairly on recognizable criminal charges,? the international NGO said in a statement.
The amnesty statement said Ramadan has been detained without charge or trial since his arrest precisely four years ago ? on July 20, 2005.
It is thought that Ramadan may be currently held at the Palestine Branch of Syrian Military Intelligence, where torture and other ill-treatment of detainees is common.
He has not been permitted to see his family since September 2007, raising serious concern for his safety.