Khaberni - Protest rallies were held today, Tuesday, in several areas of the Syrian coast, Homs, and Hama, where the participants, who belong to the Alawite sect, demanded the release of their detained sons accused by the Syrian government of committing crimes and violations during the era of the ousted Assad regime.
An official in the media relations department of the Ministry of Information told Al Jazeera that the internal security units continue to spread in public squares in Latakia Province and several coastal cities to secure the conduct of the protests.
He explained that these popular movements came in response to similar protests that took place on the coast, demanding the government not to be lenient with those proven to be involved in crimes and violations against the Syrian people.
The official at the Syrian Ministry of Information told Al Jazeera that the Syrian Interior Ministry stressed to its members the "need to protect the demonstrators and ensure their right to peacefully express their demands."
Securing gatherings
In statements to the media, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, Nour El Din Baba, said that the internal security units secured the protest gatherings in some areas of the Syrian coast to prevent any accidental incidents that are exploited by parties promoting chaos.
He added that "the Ministry of Interior preserves the right to express opinions for everyone, provided that this expression is under the law and without disturbing civil peace."
He continued, "The parties that promote and market chaos in the coastal regions are all located outside the country and detached from the living reality of our people on the coast."
Consequently, the spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Interior urged "our people on the coast not to be dragged behind schemes whose owners want nothing but to entangle the region in a cycle of instability."
Criminal or Sectarian?
These demonstrations come in the wake of sectarian violence incidents in the city of Homs in central Syria, adding to a series of similar disturbances that Syria has experienced in recent months, following the fall of the Assad family, after 50 years of iron-fisted rule.
Last Sunday, a couple was found murdered in their home in the town of Zaidal near Homs (central), and the wife's body was burned, as stated by the police who also found sectarian slogans at the crime scene.
Alawites were accused of being behind this crime, which ignited a wave of violence in several areas of the city, which includes Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods.
Youth from Bedouin tribes carried out vandalism that affected residences, vehicles, and shops in neighborhoods with an Alawite majority, before the authorities imposed a curfew to contain the situation.
The Ministry of Interior stated yesterday, Monday, that the Homs crime that ignited these events "has a criminal aspect and is not sectarian."
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Interior told Al Jazeera that the internal security had arrested more than 120 suspects involved in the recent events in Homs, adding that they will be brought to justice.
