Saudi Arabian officials have reportedly detained a blogger whose writing has
criticized religious extremism in the country, according to the two press freedom
groups and a regional human-rights organization.
Blogger and IT professional Fouad Ahmed al-Farhan, 32, was taken into custody
on December 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported
on Wednesday. His Arabic-language site
now has a "Free Fouad" banner in English across the top.
In a letter sent to friends shortly before his arrest, al-Farhan wrote that
he had been told that the interior ministry was investigating him and would
pick him up within two weeks. At the time he described the worst case as being
jailed for three days, but he was still being held without charge as of Friday,
according to Joel Campagna, Middle East program coordinator for the CPJ in New
York.
Al-Farhan's blog promotes political reform and bears the tagline, "Searching
for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, Shura and all the remaining Islamic
values which are missing," along with a dedication to his daughters, according
to a report
on the website of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. Some of his
more critical commentary has dealt with the question of religious extremism,
Campagna said. Al-Farhan also recently posted a blog item criticizing ten well-known
personalities who have close ties to the Saudi royal family, he said.
The Saudi government heavily censors Internet content, both political criticism
and pornography, Campagna said. Contentious news or political commentary sites
are frequently blocked.
There have been previous incidents of online writers suffering retaliation.
In 2006, Saudi journalist Rabah al-Quwai’, who had criticized religious
extremism, was held for 13 days. In order to obtain his release he had to confess
to having denigrated Islamic beliefs, and promise to would defend Islamic values
in his future work, the CPJ reported.
Reporters Without Borders Thursday released a statement calling for al-Farhan's
release; its current list of "13 Internet Enemies" includes Saudi
Arabia.
Research into Internet content filtering by the OpenNet Initiative shows substantial
blocking activity by the government of Saudi Arabia. The group says
that filtering content for political reasons is the common denominator across
the Middle East.
The CPJ last year detailed Saudi media censorship in its report, Princes,
Clerics and Censors.
