In 2008, Hayssam, who had fled Romania while under a terrorism inquiry, was sentenced in Syria to four years in prison for crimes against national security.
Ion Cazacu, his lawyer in another case, told MEDIAFAX Tuesday Hayssam’s father has received an official document from Syrian prosecutors regarding the four-year sentence which took effect on January 9, 2008. According to the lawyer, the prison sentence ended on January 9, 2012.
Cazacu said he has no knowledge of any other prison sentences issued in Syria against Hayssam.
In 2007, a Romanian court found Hayssam guilty of masterminding the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Iraq in 2005, and sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison. Hayssam fled Romania in the first half of 2006, while under a terrorism inquiry for his role in the kidnapping.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Romanian daily newspaper “Adevarul” in November 2010 that Hayssam was in a Syrian prison. He added that the two states would discuss a further course of action once Hayssam served his sentence.
Two treaties Romania signed with Syria in November 2010, one regarding extradition and another concerning the mutual transfer of people sentenced to prison, have been blocked in Parliament since August 2011.
On February 3, 2011, Romania’s President Traian Basescu signed the decrees allowing the Parliament to ratify the two treaties.
The treaties were signed by the two countries on November 10, 2010, on the occasion of Bashar al-Assad’s two-day visit to Romania. They must be ratified by both Romania and Syria and will enter force once the two countries officially inform each other about having completed ratification procedures.