Freedom of expression hindered in Saudi Arabia
December 30, 2007
Fouad Alfarhan, a leading Saudi blogger, one of the few to use his real name when commenting on political and social issues, was arrested on December 10. He had since been held imprisoned, for questioning, reports Global Voices Online.
Fouad had sent an email to his friends, prior to his arrest, asking to make the email public if he rests “forgotten in jail.” He had been warned by an official from the Ministry of Interior that he would be subject to investigation. Fouad wrote, he had been previously asked to apologize, to be cleared of all potential charges. “I am not sure if I am ready to do that. Apology for what?” he wrote in an email.
“It’s really sad to see a blogger arrested and silenced for exercising his freedom of speech to condemn terrorism and promote political reform in his country,” said Sami Ben Gharbia, director of Global Voices.
Fouad runs a blog “Alfarhan.org” where he openly calls for reforms and harshly condemns terrorism. He had been forced by authorities to halt for a few months blogging activity.
Picture: Global Voices Online