Following are excerpts from an interview with Mahmoud Mar'i, head of a human rights organization in Syria. The interview aired on the Iranian Al-Alam TV on January 1, 2012.
Mahmoud Mar'i: "Of course, we oppose any violence, whatever the source may be – be it the regime or individuals who perpetrate killings…"
Interviewer: "Individuals? Not organized groups?"
Mahmoud Mar'i: "…or groups. We oppose any violence. We condemned the excessive use of force by the regime against peaceful protesters from day one. We support peaceful, popular action, with legitimate and just demands. These demands have accumulated in the course of over forty years – forty years of autocratic and totalitarian rule, which gave a small group in Syrian society a monopoly on power and wealth. This is a reality that we must acknowledge. There is no political pluralism in Syria, no democracy, no free and fair elections…
"All the elections are rigged… Please let me express my views…
"I'd like to say what I think, and you may say whatever you want…
"Listen to a dissenting view. We have grown used to listening to a single view." […]
