Date and Time: Thursday, May 8, 2025, 7:00 - 8:30 PM (Damascus Time)

Location: Via Zoom 

Language: Arabic with English translation. Discussion is both in Arabic and English

Moderator: Mina Ibrahim

The MENA Prison Forum is pleased to inaugurate its 2025 talk series “Prison Matters: Towards Justice in Syria” with a session featuring lawyer and human rights defender Anwar Al-Bunni. In this session, we will revisit Al-Bunni’s rich journey as a former political detainee, migrant, and prominent justice activist. We will also shed light on how his vision of human rights work has evolved through different phases of his life; from his life in Syria to his exile in Germany, and his upcoming planned return to follow-up on the justice process in Syria.

The session will further explore his perspective on the future of justice in Syria, more than a decade after the revolution, and discuss the potential links between the ongoing trials of members of the former Syrian regime in Europe and the hypothetical transitional justice processes inside the country.

This conversation is an opportunity to open a dialogue about the challenges of justice in the Syrian context through a unique personal and professional experience. The session will be moderated by Mina Ibrahim, the MENA Prison Forum Program Manager.

“Prison Matters: Towards Justice in Syria” is a series of conversations hosted by the MENA Prison Forum in 2025. Through the voices of former detainees, families of victims, key activists, artists, and legal experts, the series reflects on justice work inside and outside Syria, and the evolving challenges facing transitional justice.