Czech woman detained by Syrian police

Prague/Damascus, July 3 (CTK) - The Syrian secret police arrested a Czech woman, aged 32, and charged her with support to opposition rebels, on June 24, Czech Television (CT) said Tuesday.

Neither her family nor the Czech embassy have any news about her, CT said.

Sandra Bitarova has a permanent stay in Syria, working in an advertising agency in Damascus. Her father is a Syrian, but she has also Czech citizenship.

According to the family, Bitarova is not involved in politics, but her arrest may be connected with her father who is a moderate opposition activist and one of the critics of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The police summoned the woman for questioning a few weeks ago. Bitarova informed about it the Czech embassy, CT said.

"We have recorded everything, where she will go and the like. She was supposed to return after her questioning, but she did not," Czech ambassador to Syria Eva Filipiova has told CTK.

Filipiova said Bitarova had been arrested over collaboration with the opposition.

Bitarova was already detained by the Syrian police for one day this March. At that time, the Czech Foreign Ministry did not receive any explanation from Syrian authorities.