After demonstrating to demand the release of political prisoners at the start of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, he was beaten and briefly held by the state security forces. In October 2011 he participated in the national conference convened by the regime in Damascus. He listed five demands as a precondition for national dialogue: no firing at fellow Syrians; release of political prisoners; applying the rule of law; abandoning the security state; and reconstructing the media for a real national debate.