The United States denounced the jailing Tuesday of Syrian human rights activist Anwar Bunni as a "sad commentary" on the state of political freedom under the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Bunni was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for "spreading false information which weakens the nation," his lawyer said.
Bunni was arrested in the Syrian capital in May 2006 after signing an appeal for radical reform in relations between Syria and neighboring Lebanon.
"It's a sad commentary on the state of political freedom in Syria where an individual who is talking about legitimate issues about the way Syria is ruled is put in jail summarily," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
"It's entirely consistent with past Syrian behavior and it's one of the reasons why we're going to continue to highlight the lack of political and other freedoms in Syria," McCormack told reporters.
Washington accuses the Assad government of allowing anti-US insurgents to cross Syria's border into Iraq and of supporting terrorist groups in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories.
The US withdrew its ambassador from Damascus after linking Syria to the February 2005 assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, an outspoken opponent of Syrian dominance over his country.
