Stories about Saudi Arabia
Saudi Activist: “Public Trial Reveals Their Mentality and Lack of Evidence”
The eighth hearing session of one of Saudi Arabia's first public trials of two prominent human rights activists Mohammad Al-Qahtani and Abdullah Al-Hamid was held today at the Riyadh Criminal Court
Saudi Activist: “This is an inquisition, prosecuting us for our opinions”
The seventh hearing session of the ongoing trial of the two prominent human rights activists Mohammad Al-Qahtani and Abdullah Al-Hamid was held today morning at Riyadh Criminal Court. In the last hearing session, the defendants responded to the charges, and today, the public prosecutor provided more ‘clarifications.'
2011: A Year of Triumphs and Struggle for Bloggers in the Middle East and North Africa
With all of the social media successes throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, it would be all too easy to overlook the struggles faced by bloggers and netizens throughout the region. But with 126 netizens imprisoned, it would be a travesty.
Saudi women demand their rights, on Twitter
It is season for change in the Middle East and Arab world and Saudi women don't want to be left behind. They are now taking their demand for equality online-at Twitter, Facebook, on forums and blogs. Deborah Amos at Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that recent events have stirred political passions...
Saudi policy on blogging criticized
Saudi Arabia has for long faced criticism and scrutiny for not allowing the country's press and the people to express themselves without any fear of reprisal. The criticism is sure to get louder now that the government has decided to require bloggers and e-news sites to obtain a license before...
Censorship Without Borders: A Moroccan Blogger's Experience
Naoufel Chaara is a talented Moroccan blogger. His website [Ar] has been recently nominated for the Deutsche Welle's 2010 BOBs international award in the Best Arabic Blog category. Naoufel's usually caustic views on people and power in his country and the Arab world, often pack a strong punch with his...
Youtube: Saudi young man impersonating a police officer arrested and charged with morality crimes
Update 1: On March 22nd, 2010, Pinkpaper.com reported that Ahmad al-Faqih was sent to jail for a year, fined $1,330, and will be lashed 1,000 times for appearing in a gay-themed video. According to Arab News, a 27-year-old Saudi man, Ahmad al-Faqih, has been arrested in January for making and...
The Power of 140 Characters: Twitter in the Middle East
The massive, sustained protests in Iran this past month against the regime’s apparent falsification of the presidential election results was enabled by widespread employment of new communication technologies. Among them is Twitter, the micro-blog which enables its users to distribute short messages of no more than 140 characters (‘Tweets’) via...
Saudi Arabia blocking Twitter pages of activists
Saudi Arabia’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has recently blocked access to Twitter accounts of a blogger @Mashi97 and a human rights activist @abualkhair. The move comes after the role Twitter played in the recent post-elections uprising in Iran. Blogger Khaled al-Nasser told AFP that his tweets which included...
Arrest of Christian Convert blogger in Saudi Arabia
According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHR), Saudi authorities have arrested the 28-year-old blogger Hamoud Bin Saleh and blocked his blog Masihi Saudi (A Saudi Christian). The ANHR adds further that blogger Hamoud Bin Saleh was arrested “due to his opinions and announcement at his blog that...
Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Syria Prevent blogger and journalists from Attending Free Press Conference in Beirut
One blogger, two journalists, and one online writer were prevented from traveling to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the 3rd Arab Free Press Forum that took place on 12 and 13 December, 2008 Saudi Arabia prevented the leading Saudi blogger, Fouad Al Farhan, from attending the event where he was scheduled to take part in a panel entitled “The Changing face of Arab blogging“.
The Blogging Revolution: from Iran to Cuba
Antony Loewenstein, a Sydney-based freelance journalist and blogger, has recently published his new book: The Blogging Revolution. This book talks about the impact of blogging on six countries: Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Cuba.
Saudi Arabia: Why Should Arabs Have Access to the Internet?
For days, cyberactivists have been busy discussing the case of Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji, who was arrested, put on trial, sentenced - and then freed, and then put on trial again and finally acquitted. Who is Mohammed Erraji? Why did he cross 'red lines' knowing well that in many countries in the Middle East criticising members of the vast Ruling families is very likely to result in repercussions and punishment? Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan, who recently found himself behind bars for his writings in Saudi Arabia, visits Erraji's blog looking for answers.
Saudi Arabia: Freedom for Fouad Al Farhan
Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan is now a free man, after spending 137 days in detention in Jeddah. While bloggers have all along speculated why he has been held by the authorities for this long, Arab bloggers are unanimously excited over his release. And they also share their hopes for the release of other jailed bloggers.
Saudi Arabia: Blogger Fouad Alfarhan Released
Prominent Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan was freed today. He is back home in Jeddah after 137 days in custody. Alfarhan was arrested on 10 December 2007 for unspecified “violation of non-security regulations.”
Saudi Arabia: Fouad Alfarhan's blog and Freefouad blocked
The blog of the detained Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan has been blocked today in Saudi Arabia, along with Freefouad website dedicated to Alfarhan's case and the pro-reformist blog Freedoms. Users trying to access these blogs from Saudi Arabia were met with a notice saying “Blocked URL. Dear User, Sorry, the...
Fouad Alfarhan: Three months in Jail
Three months after his arrest, on 10 December 2007, Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan remains jailed for unspecified “violation of non-security regulations.” At this occasion, his nine-year-old daughter Raghad sends him a message in this video published on Alfarhan's blog, which continues to be updated by his friends: A recent report...
Fouad's Week: Fouad will not be forgotten!
The Free Fouad campaign has organized and carried out “Fouad’s Week”, during which bloggers were invited to republish one of Fouad’s posts on their blogs and to embrace “We Are All Fouads” as a slogan. This week-long event marked two months since the dean of the Saudi bloggers, Fouad Alfarhan,...
Saudi Arabia: Free Fouad Update
Update 1: Responding to repeated requests for comment with a brief cellphone text message, a spokesperson for the Saudi Interior Ministry, confirmed yesterday that blogger Fouad Alfarhan was being held for “interrogation for violating non-security regulations.” Update 2: According the the NY Times, the spokesperson for the Saudi Interior Ministry...
Saudi Arabia: Milyani's blog has been blocked
There's a thrilling debate on the Saudi blogsphere after the news of blocking Mohammed Milyani's blog by the Internet Services Unit (ISU). And even if there is a strong speculation that the block is due to a technical issue, since it is only targeting few pages and not the whole...
