REPORT: Riad Seif nominated to head Syrian interim government abroad

Riad Seif, born November 25, 1946 is a key Syrian opposition figure who has devoted much of the past two decades to criticizing the authoritarian regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He is a longtime human rights advocate and head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.             

Seif served two terms in parliament - elected in 1994 and again in 1998 - during which his efforts in fiscal and economic reform were overlooked. In his first term he challenged the Assad regime and accused it of corruption. In his second term Seif continued to focus on issues of transparency and corruption and criticized government practices.               

Seif opened his house to Syria’s leading intellectuals and independent figures to debate the Syrian political system, human rights issues, academic freedoms and other matters of civil society.                         

In 2001, he revealed a scandal in the cellular phone file, involving President Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf.                

He was sentenced to five years in jail by the Damascus Criminal Court under the accusation of attempting to change the constitution illegally and inciting strife.                   

In 2008, Seif was also arrested for participating in a meeting of the Damascus Declaration National Council, an umbrella organization calling for democratic reforms. He was imprisoned for two and half years.                   

Since his release from prison Seif has been subjected to various forms of harassment and ill-treatment. He was denied the right to leave the country in 2007 for medical treatment for his prostate.                         

In subsequent protests he was beaten badly, bruised and bloodied, and spent more time in jail. Committed to the cause, Seif remained in the Syrian capital of Damascus as the only representative of the internationally recognized Syrian National Council. Seif stated that the only thing that would stop him from being on the front lines of democratic change is his ailing health or dying from his cancer.


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