Syria opposition coalition member's son dies in regime jail

The son of prominent Syrian activist and opposition National Coalition member Fayez Sara has died after being tortured in a prison in Damascus, his father and the Coalition said Monday.The Coalition's press office announced "the death of Wissam Fayez Sara in prison under torture" in a statement, and his father also confirmed the news on Facebook."After all the blows we have been dealt, and all the blows that our people have been dealt -- killing, arrests, displacement and destruction -- they told us today that Wissam was tortured to death in the military security branch in Damascus, two months after he was arrested in Damascus," Sara wrote on his Facebook page.He said his son, a 27-year-old father of two, had joined "the martyrs of Syria.""Wissam was one of the first among the youth in the revolution to go out, protest and work in activism against the dictatorship," he wrote.He said his son was a "peaceful fighter," and had been arrested for the first time in the spring of 2012 along with his elder brother Bassem, before being released.Wissam was arrested again in December 2013 and "then tortured to death," he wrote.Fayez Sara has been a member of the Coalition's political committee since August 2013.He has been active in opposition, leftist and labour union circles in Syria for decades, and was among the signatories of the Damascus Declaration calling for reform.He has been arrested multiple times and spent two years in prison in the late 1970s for his involvement with leftist groups.He was also held for a month at the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, and now lives in Turkey.