Assyrian lawyer Riyad Lahdo Ado from Derik (Arabic Malikiyeh) was kept in Kurdish custody 24 hours before he was released on Tuesday November 15. The reason he was interrogated and harassed is that he has an old land dispute with two Kurdish lawyers, where he has been successful in Syrian courts.
Mr. Riyad Lahdo Ado is a well known Assyrian in Gozarto as a member of the Assyrian Foundation in Derik as well as its legal representative, and also the secretary of the local Assyrian church board.
The intelligence branch of the self proclaimed Kurdish PYD authority, titled Fer’ al-ma’lumat al-amni (Security Information Branch), called Mr. Ado to its headquarters in the oil rich town of Rmelan last Monday, where he immediately was arrested and interrogated. By noon Tuesday he was released, after interference from prominent Assyrians and others.
AssyriaTV has spoken to Mr. Riyad Lahdo Ado and he confirms that it is all about Kurdish power demonstration and abuse of rule. This is not the first time the indigenous Assyrians are harassed by the local Kurdish authority in Gozarto province in Syria, which the Kurds are holding.