Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Free Fouad - Saudi blogger held for 2 months without trial

Fouad’s Week

...Sunday February 10th marks the end of the second month which Saudi Blogger Fouad Al-Farhan spends in detention without being charged. Therefore; we invite all bloggers to participate in week long event which we are calling: “Fouad’s Week”, in which we are going to embrace “We Are All Fouads” as a slogan.

The event will take place between Saturday Feb 9th and Friday Feb 15th.

Goals of this Event:

1- Let Fouad rest assured that he WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN, this is the only thing he asked for before his detention.

2- Send a message to those who detained him: “Violating ones right to speak peacefully and freely, will only support his message, and give it a burst of momentum”

How to Participate:

1- Copy and paste one of Fouad’s posts from his old or new blog, and publish it in your own blog.

2- Don’t forget to trackback this post, so your participation will be counted. If your blog does not support pings, please add a comment here showing a link to your post.

3- You can post daily, or just once, but please participate. Together we can make our voices be heard.

 

Saudi Arabian bloggers rattled by first arrest of online critic

The arrest of Fouad al-Farhan, one of the few bloggers to use his own name, may be an attempt to intimidate others.

| Washington Post
 

Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, has been detained for questioning, an Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed Monday. It was the first known arrest of an online critic in the kingdom.

Mr. Farhan, 32, who used his blog to criticize corruption and call for political reform, was detained "for violating rules not related to state security," according to the spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, responding to repeated requests for comment with a brief cellphone text message.

Farhan's Dec. 10 arrest was reported last week on the Internet and has been condemned by bloggers in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Bahrain. The Saudi news media have not yet reported the arrest, but more than 200 bloggers in the kingdom have criticized Farhan's detention, and a group of supporters have set up a Free Fouad website.

Farhan, who was educated in the United States and owns a computer programming company, was arrested at his office in Jeddah. He was then brought home, where his laptop was confiscated, said his wife, who spoke on condition that her name not be published to protect her privacy.

"They arrested him because of his blog. I haven't seen him since. We don't know where he is," she said...

 

 Whatever happened to Saudi reform?

" ... At the time of their arrest, the Saudi media alleged the men were financing acts of violence in Iraq and encouraging young Saudis to join the insurgency there.

One of the detainees, Saud al-Hashemi, was active in organising humanitarian aid for Iraq - and was strongly critical of the US presence there.

But the men's supporters are convinced their real crime was speaking out for political reform.

At the time of their arrest they were preparing to launch a reformist movement - and there is a suspicion the authorities wanted to nip their plans in the bud.

Hope betrayed

Both Saudi and international human-rights activists believe 2007 witnessed an intensification of pressure on political dissent.

The current climate is in marked contrast to that in 2005, when King Abdullah came to the throne promising change.

Having pinned their hopes on him, reformists now feel he has failed to deliver.

Saudi blogger Fouad al-Farhan has been detained since December for speaking out on behalf of the jailed reformists.

Veteran Islamist Abdullah al-Hamed - who organised a petition last year calling for a constitutional monarchy - was arrested with his brother in November.

They were accused of encouraging a women's demonstration - a highly unusual event in the conservative kingdom - over the detention of thousands of al-Qaeda suspects.

But despite the pattern of arrest and harassment, the pressure for reform continues.

A group of reformists have posted a petition online on the Menber al-Hewar website, calling for the release of the nine reformists and their ally, the blogger Fouad al-Farhan.

Women's rights activists are openly pressing for the right to drive.

And liberal and Islamist reformists are joining hands to condemn a legal system which - despite the promise of judicial reform - is failing to protect their rights. ... "

 

Saudi Arabia: Free Fouad DC Rally

A Free Fouad Rally was held outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington DC, writes Saudi Jeans. Fouad Al Farhan is still in prison after being detained by the Saudi authorities two months ago - allegedly for posts he wrote on his blog.

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