Two Demonstrations, Security Forces Separate Them, What Happened in Damascus’ al-Muhafazah Square?

A group of protesters gathered in al-Muhafazah Square in Damascus on Friday, April 17, as part of a sit-in under the banner “Law and Dignity,” and were met by a counter demonstration from supporters of the government and its policies.

Participants in the “Law and Dignity” sit-in raised banners calling for better living conditions and services, and for the protection of rights, freedoms, justice, and the rule of law.

According to Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Damascus, the sit-in focused on demands to improve economic and living conditions, most notably lowering electricity prices, easing the burden on Syrian citizens, and rejecting strife.

The protesters also called for support for agriculture and industry, fighting corruption and hunger, and reinstating dismissed employees.

Protesters at the “Law and Dignity” sit-in in al-Muhafazah Square in Damascus, April 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi/Ahmed al-Muslimani)

Internal security forces deployed to protect the protesters as a number of people supporting the Syrian government gathered nearby, raising the tawhid flag, rejecting the sit-in, and accusing the protesters of treason.

Security forces worked to separate the protesters from the attackers, as chants from the two sides sharply differed.

Syrian security forces separate two demonstrations in al-Muhafazah Square in central Damascus, April 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi/Ahmed al-Muslimani)

The activists who had called for the sit-in rejected what they described as campaigns accusing them of treason and attempts to classify them as supporters of the Assad regime or of other parties in Syria.

According to a statement by the organizers, the sit-in was organized by Syrian youth inside Syria who experience its daily hardships firsthand. They described it as a spontaneous movement, far from any outside influence, under the broad slogan “Law and Dignity” and the central chant, “We Want to Live.”

Based on what Enab Baladi monitored on social media, civil activists called for the sit-in, and the calls were also shared by supporters of the former Assad regime and other parties inside Syria, which sparked division even before the protest began.

That division was reflected on the ground in the counter demonstration, whose participants accused the protesters of being linked to remnants of the Assad regime and to other political and military actors in Syria.

A demonstration supporting the Syrian government in al-Muhafazah Square in Damascus, April 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi/Ahmad Maslamani)

The sit-in came as residents face worsening living conditions, especially amid a wave of price hikes affecting the basics of daily life, low salaries and wages, and limited job opportunities.

Protesters at the “Law and Dignity” sit-in in al-Muhafazah Square in Damascus, April 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi/Ahmad Maslamani)

What Are the Sit-In’s Demands?

The activists and organizers of the “Law and Dignity” sit-in in Damascus issued a statement laying out a series of core and urgent demands:

• That the transitional authorities commit to their duties and powers in leading the transitional process, and work to prepare a real political transition based on inclusive national dialogue leading to elections, activate the path of transitional justice and hold those involved in crimes accountable, and launch non-judicial accountability within public administrations instead of arbitrary dismissal.
• Rejecting the reproduction of the former regime and the rehabilitation of its figures, canceling settlements with its figures and operatives who contributed to the killing of the Syrian people, and stopping the rehabilitation of Assad remnants and their appointment to official posts.
• Expanding political participation through free elections for local councils and unions, activating the role of political parties, and rejecting any monopoly on power by any side.
• Applying good governance by adopting competence, integrity, and transparency, ending the chaos in appointments and powers, fighting corruption, and guaranteeing an independent, transparent, and fair judiciary.
• Achieving social and economic justice by halting price increases before correcting wages, regulating markets, fighting monopoly practices, and linking salaries to the cost of living.
• Protecting basic services, including electricity, water, health, and education, as public rights, and guaranteeing fair access to them without privatization.
• Providing social redress and protecting rights by supporting retirees and the most vulnerable groups, including women, displaced children, families of victims, and survivors.
• Supporting traders, industrialists, craftspeople, day laborers, and self-employed workers, and refraining from infringing on their livelihoods, real estate, and property.
• Halting reconstruction and investment plans that strip residents and displaced people of their rights through partnerships with those who were complicit in their displacement, and guaranteeing a safe and dignified return for the displaced.
• Safeguarding rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and assembly, criminalizing hate speech and division, strengthening social unity by rejecting sectarianism and discrimination, and reviewing discriminatory laws between social groups.
  

  Protesters at the “Law and Dignity” sit-in in al-Muhafazah Square in Damascus, April 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi/Ahmad Maslamani)

Debate Seen as a “National Gain”

The official “Law and Dignity” sit-in page said on April 16 that once the call for the sit-in in Martyr Yusuf al-Azma Square in Damascus began circulating, it observed broad public engagement and healthy debate between supporters and opponents of the idea.

The page added in a statement that this dialogue and difference of opinion represented a national gain and an initial success achieved even before the sit-in began on the ground.

At the same time, the statement said that campaigns of treason accusations and false claims had also been monitored, aimed at distorting the goals of the movement. It then clarified several points:

• The call is open to all Syrians regardless of their political positions or personal convictions. It also includes supporters of the authorities who see recent economic decisions, especially the electricity price increase, as an injustice that cannot be ignored. The pain is one, and the demand for a dignified life is a right for all.
• The page rejected the accusation that the movement consists of “remnants of the former regime,” stressing that its demands go beyond the fall of Assad’s former rule to calling for changes in the policies and practices that tormented Syrians for decades, some of which, it said, are still continuing.
• It also stressed that the only official source for the movement is its approved Facebook page, and that the organizers are not responsible for any other pages or slogans promoted in their name.

The statement renewed the call for all those harmed by unjust policies to join the sit-in, stressing the need to uphold the highest levels of peaceful and civil expression, preserve public property, keep the protest site clean, and fully comply with the sit-in’s organizational instructions.

A demonstration supporting the Syrian government in al-Muhafazah Square in Damascus, April 17, 2026. (Enab Baladi/Ahmad Maslamani)

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