Title: Freedom of Expression in Syria
Date: Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Time: 6 pm
Location: Room G10 in Civil Engineering Building, UCC
Biography:
Yara Bader has played a key role in reporting the daily developments in Syria since the beginning of the uprising in early 2011. She is married to prominent Syrian human rights defender Mazen Darwish, who is also a journalist and who up until his arrest, was the Director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).
In a raid on the SCM offices by Syrian intelligence in February 2012, Darwich Bader and 14 of their colleagues were detained and taken to the air force intelligence facility, notorious for the abuse and torture of detainees. Bader and her female colleagues were released within a week, but Darwich has remained imprisoned to this date. For several months he was held incommunicado, and according to the reports from other detainees, he has been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. Today, Bader works from exile, campaigning for Syrian detainees and continuing the work of the SCM.