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Special Report
April 28, 2008
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Saudi Blogger Farhan Released
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Fouad al-Farhan was well known among the expanding web log, or blog, community in Saudi Arabia prior to his imprisonment on December 10, 2007. Since then his case gained international attention including
an exchange of concerns by senior U.S. government officials to Saudi officials during the period of President Bush's January visit to the
Kingdom. On Saturday he was released from custody and returned to his Jeddah home. This SUSRIS Special Report provides an update to Farhan's case with excerpts and links to related articles. We conclude today with a replay of the January SUSRIS report on his detention and Abeer Mishkhas'
Arab News piece on the case.
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News Reporting:
Popular Saudi blogger released from jail - Christian Science Monitor - Apr 28, 2008
A senior Saudi official for the first time today elaborated on why a popular Saudi blogger � released Saturday from detention � was held without charges for more than four months. "We have ... what we call electronic crimes � any kind of violation related to computer and technology and so on," Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Mansour Al Turki told the Monitor when asked why Fouad Farhan had been jailed."And I believe his main case was like violating personal rights.... Like when I go for example on the Internet or I go on any electronic media and I use your name and your personality and I criticize ... or offend you without being able to introduce evidence of what I'm saying."
[more]
Saudi blogger freed after 4 months in jail - Reuters - Apr 28, 2008
A Saudi blogger detained without charge for more than four months after expressing pro-reform opinions has been released, a colleague said on Saturday. Fouad Farhan was detained in early December after running an online campaign over 10 men arrested since February 2007 on suspicion of financing militant groups, but whose supporters say they are being punished for pro-democracy activity. "I spoke to him and he's in good spirits. He said he was treated really well," said Ahmed al-Omran, who published the news on his website
(www.saudijeans.org). [more]
Reformist Saudi blogger freed and 'very happy' - AFP - Apr 27, 2008
A Saudi blogger and reform advocate, whose detention without charge four months ago sparked criticism from Washington, told AFP on Sunday he was "very happy" to be free and was "fairly" treated in custody. But Fouad al-Farhan, who was released on Saturday from a prison in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, said he would not comment on the details of his case for the time being. "I am very happy to be back with family and friends. I appreciate their help (while I was in detention)," Farhan said by telephone from the resort of Taef near Jeddah, where he was visiting his mother.
[more]
Freed Saudi blogger: Teens mustn't become terrorists - CNN.com - Apr 27, 2008
Blogger Fouad al-Farhan said Sunday, the day after his release from a Saudi jail, that his four months in detention has given him a new focus. "My main interest right now is to help ... our youth not to be involved in terrorism activities that will lead them to prisons," al-Farhan said. Al-Farhan, 32, was detained in December, ostensibly because he supported several reform advocates accused by the Saudi government of supporting terrorism. The American Islamic Congress, which pushed for his release, said al-Farhan was simply expressing opinions and had advocated against terrorism. Al-Farhan said he "was treated like any other prisoner" and would not comment further about his case, saying he plans to issue a statement "soon" on his Web log, or
"blog." [more]
Freed Saudi blogger calls prison 'unique' - UPI - Apr 27, 2008
"My main interest right now is to help ... our youth not to be involved in terrorism activities that will lead them to prisons," al-Farhan said. Al-Farhan, 32, was detained in December, ostensibly because he supported several reform advocates accused by the Saudi government of supporting terrorism. The American Islamic Congress, which pushed for his release, said al-Farhan was simply expressing opinions and had advocated against terrorism. Al-Farhan said he "was treated like any other prisoner" and would not comment further about his case, saying he plans to issue a statement "soon" on his Web log, or "blog." .. One of Farhan's fellow activist bloggers, Ahmed al-Omran, told the Post Farhan's arrest likely had the opposite effect than was intended. "The arrest was scary and intimidating to bloggers but also empowering. It made bloggers know that their blogs are influential, and now they feel more of a responsibility and take their blogs more seriously," Omran said.
[more]
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The following
SUSRIS Item of Interest was originally circulated on January 4, 2008
Web Logs and Red Lines:
The Case of the Saudi Blogger
Editor's Note:
| What's a blog? A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.
--Blogger.com |
The Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday that Fouad Al-Farhan was being held for interrogation, according to
Arab News. Farhan, long recognized as among the more well known Saudi bloggers -- certainly the best known Saudi blogger since his December 10, 2007
arrest -- is being detained by authorities for "interrogation for violating non-security regulations," according to ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki. What that means is not clear but before the arrest Farhan said he was being investigated and predicted he would be taken into custody. He attributed the investigation to his writing about Saudi academics who were arrested earlier in the year.
The case has been elevated onto the world stage, including discussions at the US State Department press briefings -- especially in view of President Bush's impending visit to Saudi Arabia. Today we provide an update on the news reporting on Farhan's case (links below) and a discussion, by Abeer Mishkhas of
Arab News, of expression in the media in the Kingdom and how the
blogosphere in Saudi Arabia dances "close to the red lines."
Fouad Al Farhan's Blog is posted at: http://www.alfarhan.org
How Free Is the Blogosphere?
Abeer Mishkhas, [email protected]
When we congratulate ourselves on the expanding role of the media in Saudi Arabia, we do this with a sense of the different atmosphere surrounding us; there are still social problems, which we journalists cannot write about and there are still attitudes, which are anything but tolerant.
Tolerance is of course viewed subjectively here, and we know from experience that tolerance can enable us to say many things that have been buried in our hearts and minds for ages.
And yet despite our good intentions, we still use the brakes to stop ourselves from going in too deeply; and we do that either consciously or not.
The news of the arrest in Jeddah on Dec. 10 of Saudi blogger Fouad Farhan will be seen by many as a setback at a time when international news agencies had begun quoting our newspapers on some of our most important and sensitive issues.
One would think that the blogosphere should be even more open and free than newspapers.
And generally it has been: Bloggers in Saudi Arabia have varied their goals and subjects from fun-oriented ones to social networks to comments on current affairs.
For Saudis it was a breath of fresh air; the blogosphere offered freedom and an unrestricted space for all voices. Some of the bloggers have continued while others, for various reasons, stopped. The blogs dealing with lighter subjects, such as entertainment and fashion, survived while the more daring ones, which comment on current affairs, dance close to the red lines.
Some of the bloggers went from observing and posting clips from newspapers and TV shows to posting their own opinions.
Whether you agree with them is completely up to each person for after all that is the beauty of the blogosphere - live and let live, express and let express.
This sense of freedom is now at risk. According to some Saudi bloggers, Farhan's arrest is making them think twice before posting comments that they might get in trouble for.
The almost complete freedom bloggers enjoyed is now subject to the same censorship that other websites face. Before that, censorship manifested itself in the simple sentence which came up when you clicked on a website: "This site is forbidden."
The arrest of Farhan, however, seems to many people to be a much more drastic step. According to the authorities, Farhan's arrest was for "non-security related issues" which implies that his website might not be the cause of the arrest - and indeed, this is supported by the fact that the site is up and running.
It is not blocked. In any case, until people hear otherwise, the assumption will be that the website was in fact the reason for his arrest.
At a time when the world media is focusing on Saudi affairs - whether we like it or not - a little openness could help our image a great deal. We must learn from the Qatif Girl case.
Because the authorities refused to talk, others did the talking; all sorts of theories came to the surface and there was no way of challenging or refuting them as there was no clear official information.
Maybe this time a clear statement as to why Farhan is being detained on a very imprecise charge would go a long way to clearing things up. In this age when news is available to everyone around the clock, it is hard to be convinced by a vague statement.
Source: Arab News
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