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On Monday, the Syrian government decided to ban domestic opposition groups from organizing a news conference. Activists have denounced the ban, calling it an unprecedented move.
Two opposition groups which are allowed to operate in Syria were set to hold a joint conference in the city of Damascus of Monday. During the conference, the Front for Change and Liberation and the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCCDC) planned to unveil a document calling for a “political solution” to the conflict which has ravaged the country for over three years, and to end the “autocratic regime”. However, security forces had reportedly barred the two groups from announcing the initiative.
“Security service members prevented the holding of the conference and prevented journalists from entering the FCL headquarters”,Hassan Abdel Azim, a member of the NCCDC, said.
“A checkpoint of eight men in military uniform was set up outside the headquarters (where the conference was going to be held”, said Safwan Akkash, another member of the NCCDC.
“Journalists were prevented from entering on the pretext that they didn’t have authorization to cover the event, even though they are all accredited by the information ministry”, he added.
This is the first time domestic opposition groups have been prevented from convening a news conference since the conflict started in the country in March 2011.
Akkash also said that the move was a response to the subject matter in the document they were planning to present.
“The regime did not appreciate the fact that with this memorandum, the FCL has become an opposition movement outside the orbit of the regime”, he said.
The document, signed by both groups, opposes any kind of foreign interference in Syria and a “military solution” to the conflict. It also calls for the “passage from an autocratic regime to a democratic, pluralistic system”.