Damascus - A 19-year-old Syrian blogger, Tal El-Melouhy, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after being found guilty of disclosing information to a foreign country.
Her sentencing came just days after Washington called for her immediate release.
Washington also denied that El-Melouhy, who was arrested just over a year ago, had spied for the United States.
A statement from a leading Syrian human rights association said she was charged 'under the umbrella of emergency law.'
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called on the authorities in Damascus to respect international obligations concerning the protection and promotion of human rights.
El-Melouhy's family had been unable to confirm her whereabouts for the first 10 months of her disappearance, until local Syrian news website dp-news reported she was held at Duma women's prison, some 20 kilometres north-west of the city.
At the time of her arrest, El-Melouhy was a student and active blogger, writing articles supporting the Palestinian cause and criticising the French initiative for peace between Israel and Syria.
