#FreeSafy – Bahrain Arrests Blogger in Dawn Raid

Bahraini blogger Mohamed Hassan was arrested from his home in an early morning raid today, July 31. According to reports, police raided his Sitra home and arrested him, confiscating his telephone and computer in the process. Reports also claim they had an arrest warrant.

The arrest of Mohammed, known as Safy, and who is a Global Voices Online author who has covered Bahrain, drew criticism from netizens. UAE commentator Sultan Al Qassemi tweets:

In a follow up comment, he says the arrest of bloggers was a sign of the times in the region:

And activist Alaa Al Shehabi replies:

This sentiment of an impending crackdown on netizens is a recurring theme this morning. Mohammed Al Maskati, who was previously arrested at the beginning of protests in Bahrain in March 2011, asks:

Like many, Maskati does not believe there needs to be a reason for people to be arrested in restive Bahrain:

Jalal Al Jazeeri salutes Safy for his stance:

Mohammed Al Daaysi says:

And Salma can't find a reason why a blogger like Safy would be arrested:

In April, Safy announced the closure of his blog:

All good things come to an end.

Though my message might have not ended I think my points were delivered, I think it is time now to put a period, close this notebook and start a new one.

He has also stopped tweeting since then. Thousands of people have been arrested since protests calling for political and economic reforms started in Bahrain on February 14, 2011. The witch hunt continues.

5 comments

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.