January 4, 2008...1:39 pm
Saudi Arabia’s David Farrar arrested, under interrogation, for blogging about political prisoners
Saudi Arabian authorities have detained that country’s best-known blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, apparently for raising issues about political prisoners and human rights in the kingdom. A letter from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists posted on his blog says al-Farhan received a phone call from the Saudi Interior Ministry before his December 10 arrest instructing him to prepare himself “to be picked up in the coming two weeks” for questioning by a high-ranking official. Al-Farhan also said he believed he was being summoned “because I wrote about the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia and they think I’m running an online campaign promoting their issue.” In one of his last posts before his detention, al-Farhan sharply criticised 10 influential Saudi business, religious, and media figures.
The New York Times quotes a Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman as saying al-Farhan was “being questioned about specific violations of nonsecurity laws.”
Saudi Arabia has no freedoms of speech, political belief, religion or other basic civil rights taken for granted in New Zealand and other democracies. The Koran is the Islamic kingdom’s constitution. When a young Saudi woman sentenced to 90 lashes after being gang-raped had the sentence increased to 200 lashes when she appealed, international pressure forced King Abdullah to pardon her. Some of that pressure came from our own prime minister. She could do well to speak out in support of Fouad al-Farhan too.
In the New Zealand blogosphere, this is being covered by No Right Turn, David Farrar’s Kiwiblog and The Hive. The latter makes the point that the New Zealand equivalent of arresting Fouad al-Farhan would be the government here arresting David Farrar because it doesn’t like his blogging.
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