A session in the rare public trial of 13 Syrian dissidents today gave a glimpse into the workings of a justice system where most political cases are handled behind closed doors.
The 13 were arrested last year after leading a large meeting to revive a movement calling for freedom of expression and a democratic constitution as an alternative to four decades of Baath Party rule.
Their arrest sparked international condemnation, with the United States and European nations repeatedly calling for their release. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is due to visit Syria next week, raised their plight during a recent meeting with President Bashar al-Assad in Paris.
The 12 men and one woman, who are among Syria's leading intellectuals and have been in jail since their arrest, were brought into a courtroom in the Ottoman-era Palace of Justice packed with their relatives, political activists and Western diplomats, surrounded by heavy security.
A picture of late President Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for 30 years, was plastered on a wall.
The judge read out the charges and asked the defendants - most of whom have already been jailed previously as political prisoners - if they had anything to say. All 13 say they are innocent.
Senior opposition figure Riad Seif, who is receiving treatment for prostate cancer while in prison, spoke first.
"Our case is about freedom of opinion. It is not a criminal one. We demand a national programme for democratic change that begins with the right of expression," Mr Seif said.
Mr Seif had previously spent five years in jail for playing a leading role in the Damascus Spring, a movement of intellectuals and opposition figures who campaigned for democracy when Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000. The authorities crushed the movement after several months.
Akram al-Bunni, a writer who had previously been jailed for 17 years, complained to the judge that he had not been allowed enough meetings with his lawyer.
His colleague Walid al-Bunni, a physician who already spent five years behind bars on other charges, demanded to know the basis for the charges against him.
The judge declined.
Mohannad al-Hussani, a lawyer for the 13, said: "Under the Syrian constitution, a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. The prosecution cannot be excused from presenting proof of guilt unless the intention of the court is to convict regardless."
The judge gave the defendants 15 minutes to see their families and adjourned the trial until Sept 27th.
The defendants told their relatives they were receiving enough food and medicine in prison, but said the health of fellow political prisoner Kamal Labwani was deteriorating.
Mr Labwani is serving a 15-year prison term after being convicted of undermining national security through a visit to the United States. Washington has called for his release, as well as the release of other political prisoners.
Mostapha Suleiman, an activist who came to witness the trial from the northern city of Aleppo, said he feared the 13 would receive harsh sentences despite the unusual access and international pressure to release them.
"The authorities want to show that they're providing a semblance of judicial fairness for high profile opposition figures, but this a politicised trial par excellence," he said.
Human rights activists say thousands of political prisoners are held in Syria, mostly without trial. The country has been ruled by the Baath Party since 1963, when it took power in a coup, imposed emergency law and banned any opposition.