April 26, 2008
Saudi Blogger Freed - Update
Blogging from Dubai. I've received an update on jailed Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan from CNN producer Mohammed Jamjoom.
CNN has confirmed that Al-Farhan, jailed by authorities last December -- ostensibly because he supported reform advocates accused by the Saudi government of supporting terrorism -- has been released. CNN producer Mohammed Jamjoom today spoke to the Saudi blogger, who is apparently (and unsurprisingly) reluctant to speak freely about his time in detention. In a phone call with CNN, Al-Farhan said: "I am happy to be back with my family," adding that he was "treated like any other prisoner." Al-Farhan, who was jailed with 15 to 16 other men, said that he would not comment on his case now, but that he will issue a statement on his blog soon. 2 Comments
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Excellent news! It's because of blogs like this one, as well as all the TV coverage by networks like CNN, that this has happened - ten years ago and no-one would have heard about this man.
Well done Hala! Thanks for updating us.
As blessed as the news is of this one young man's release from the Saudi Arabian secret prison system merely because he was technically gifted enough and lucky enough to utlize a tiny window of opportunity to publicize his plight, what of the thousand, perhaps tens of thousands or more, men, women, and children of all races, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities that have simply vanished into the Saudi Arabian prision maze without voice, footprint, or representation? When will the world community, and the leader of true democracy in the free world, the European Union, speak to the atrocities that have been ongoing in the various Arab nations but none as much as the moral, ethical, and legal hypocrisy that is engendered in the Saudi government and Royal Family?
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