The Syrian regime has seized the assets of dissident and former MP Ma'moun Homsi with the purpose of pressuring him and his family. (Arabic. Reuters, 5/3/07).
Homsi's lawyer Haitham al-Maleh said that the financial prosecution of Homsi has led to stripping the ownership of the house where his family lives, and seizing real estate and moneys on which the family relies.
Homsi had called on the Syrian people to boycott the recent parliamentary elections, and strongly criticized the regime. He also revealed in a recent interview on the liberal Arabic website Aafaq, that he had sent a letter to Sen. Nancy Pelosi asking her not to come to Damascus. Homsi added that the idea of engaging the Syrian regime is "a very dangerous proposition cause next will be a call to engage terrorist organizations." (Arabic. Aafaq, 4/30/07).
Homsi was first arrested in 2001, during the crackdown against the so-called "Damascus Spring" movement. He was sentenced to five years for "attempting to illegally change the constitution." He left Syria in June 2006, and said that the regime's intransigence had left him no other option but to leave.