Hat tip to Stefania for letting me know about this. Tell me everyone, how often do you see this happen?

DAMASCUS: Chanting “freedom, freedom,” about 200 Syrians protested on Sunday outside a Damascus state security court where a prominent human rights campaigner accused of opposing the state was on trial.

The area was sealed off by about 50 riot police as demonstrators, including many Kurds, carried posters of the defendants and banners denouncing the emergency law in force in Syria since the Baath Party took power in 1963.

Among three activists on trial Sunday was prominent campaigner Aktham Naisse, who faces between three years and life in jail if convicted on charges of activities against the state.

Naisse, who heads the Committee for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria, was detained in April 2004 after he organized a rare demonstration calling for the lifting of the emergency laws.

He was freed on bail after five months in detention.

Foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations attended his trial, which was adjourned until June 26, lawyer Anwar Bunni said.

His group denounced the court as “illegal and unconstitutional” and said Naisse’s trial “raises many questions over promised political reforms and the ability of the Syrian authorities to deal with challenges.”

Also on trial was Kurd Shevan Abdo, who was arrested following bloody clashes in northern Syria in March 2004. Demonstrators cheered and chanted “freedom, freedom” as he arrived in court in a prison van.

The court also heard from the defense team of Massaab Hariri, who has been in detention for three years. His father is wanted for being a member of banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Human rights groups have repeatedly called for the release of detainees, as well as the scrapping of the security court and the emergency law. – AFP

Is this the first piece of glass to break in Assad’s regime? One protest usually doesn’t tell us much, but one protest in Syria might. The political fallout after the army’s withdrawal from Lebanon is enormous. What we might see in the many months to come are increasing protests, and with the international eye magnifying pressure on him, Assad will be less likely to go Hama on them.