Syrian government response to the Syrian revolution
This article details the Syrian government's response to protests and civilian uprisings of the Syrian revolution which began in early 2011, that unravelled the socio-political stability of Syria, eventually plunging the country into a nationwide civil war by mid-2012. Arrests and convictions Days before protests planned for 5 February 2011, Syrian authorities arrested several political activists, such as businessman Ghassan al-Najar, leader of the Islamic Democratic movement, the writer Ali al-Abdallah, Abbas Abbas, from the Syrian Communist Party and several other political personalities of Kurdish background, such as Adnan Mustafa. On 14 February, blogger and student Tal al-Mallouhi, who had been imprisoned since 27 December 2009, was convicted of spying for the United States and sentenced to five years in prison. Washington denied these allegations and asked for al-Mallohi's immediate release. On 15 February under pressure from human rights organizations, the Syrian government released Ghassan al-Najar after he went on a hunger strike following his arrest for calling for mass protests. On 22 March Syrian authorities arrested Loay Hussein, a human rights campaigner. On 25 March there were reports of mass arrests and detentions of protesters taking place. On 29 April Dorothy Parvaz of Al Jazeera arrived in Damascus and