A Saudi blogger, Fuad Al-Farhan, noted for his promotion of moderate reform in Saudi Arabia has been arrested for a second time in just over a year. Saudi and other Gulf Arab blogs have been commenting on it and calling for his release. Exactly what he did to get arrested isn’t known, but as this report from Rasheed Abou-Alsamh (Rasheed’s World) states, it may because he visited a Saudi academic currently jailed for his own actions (political reform, according to his supporters; funding terrorism, according to the government). Rasheed knows Fuad and I know Rasheed, so I consider this a solid story.
Thanks to commenter ‘Saudi in the US’ for the leads to the story. More coverage can be found at Global Voices Online (English) and Mashi SaH (Arabic, with links to other Arabic blogs).
Saudi Blogger Fuad Al-Farhan Arrested Again
SEVERAL Gulf bloggers have now confirmed that Saudi blogger Fuad Al-Farhan was arrested last week before Eid in Jeddah.
I know Fuad personally and have met him several times and interviewed him for stories. The last time I saw him was when I had lunch with him, Faiza Ambah and the English writer Robert Lacey at Casper & Gambini in early December. He was in good spirits and did not have an inkling yet that he was in trouble.
Around a week later he called a mutual friend of ours and said that he was worried as a person in the Ministry of the Interior had called him to warn him that his name was on a list of people to be arrested and held for questioning. According to the government official, Fuad was to be held initially for three days, and if he was not cooperative then his stay with the secret police could be expanded to two weeks.
As the Bahraini blogger Mahmoud of Mahmoud’s Den wrote today, this is not the first time that Fuad has run afoul of Saudi authorities. In November 2006 he was questioned by two plainclothes officials about his blog and warned that if he did not stop criticizing government officials he would face negative consequences. Scared that his IT business could be affected by what he wrote on his blog, Fuad stopped blogging for several months.
The latest arrest comes after he visited one of nine Saudi reformists who were arrested on Feb. 10, 2007, and are still being held at a secret police detention facility in north Jeddah after refusing to sign undertakings that they would seize [cease] their calls for political reform. Fuad wrote about his visit on his blog.
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December:23:2007 - 08:46
I only know him through reputation, but my thoughts are with him. I wonder, though, how this blogger, of all that are critical of Saudi policies, was singled out.
http://13martyrs.blogspot.com/
December:23:2007 - 08:46
That’s the problem with murky media reports and non-transparent governments: it’s very hard to tell what’s going on.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
[...] source: Crossroads Arabia [...]
December:23:2007 - 08:46
The BLOG is coming to get them and eat them all up in their sleep.
Since when do equate political reformists to terrorists? What a laugh! Hahaha I haven’t heard anything more ridiculous since I have been here. How convenient?
Let us live and be courageous, let us stand united. Two are stronger than one and three are stronger than two.
To me a terrorist is someone who has been influenced by the government schools (few exceptions there are I admit), has poor education, little opportunities and someone who feels helpless and thus resorts holding strictly to deviant religious dogma or ideas to bring about change.
To me a reformist is someone who is enlightened/well educated and who is fed up with living a life of fear and wants to see more transparency and accountability from those in positions of influence. I have met some so called reformist idealists and all of them are not extremely religious and are law abiding peace makers.
I think it would be wise for the government not to make enemies with both terrorists and reformists and make a clear distinction between the two.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
There’s a problem with the word ‘reformist’. It encompasses both those who would like to see moderation and modernization take hold in Islamic states, but also those who think the status quo has already gotten dangerously and sinfully liberal.
One of the issues the Saudis have had with the UK government is seen with groups that talk like they’re for reform, but what they actually want is a return to an extremist Salafi ‘golden age’ . Groups like the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) suggest that they’re for modernization but aren’t. One of its founders, Saad al-Faqih has been identified by the US as a sponsor of terrorism. There’s a similar story with Mohammed Al-Masa’ari and his (defunct?) Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia (CDLR). The ‘reforms’ he wanted included getting rid of the heathen Al-Saud to return to a Salafi past in which Sharia law (as interpreted by him and his like) would prevail.
While they cloak themselves as reformists and receive the protection of liberal British laws, the Saudis want them deported as supporters of terrorism.
Are Saudi government fears/allegations false? Maybe to some extent. Are the ‘reformers’ actually reformers? Not clearly so.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
This is where the hypocrisy grinds. Former terrorists are being “rehabilitated” with all sorts of perks while bloggers are being thrown into prison for mere words.
The equation looks something like this to me:
Carry gun + threaten terror + espouse violence against state = house + stipend + wife + job from state
State moderate opinion peacefully through words = prison term + intimidation + “questioning” in hands of your friendly secret police
Nice!
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Olivetheoil nicely stated as usual. I think we bring the best out of one another.
John thanks for your explanation. In my opinion, the line between reformists and terrorists is clear. The reformists that I know are liberal, so the claim that they want to totally overthrow a government is an untruth.
Simple things are on their lists of things to do like letting women drive or halting governmental support of establishments owned by royalty who operate illegally and poison children are just a few items on the agenda.
Perhaps we can then look at reformists compared to terrorists as complementary colors. Both can be perceived as threats to the country’s status quo. In one way or another each color although different brings out the color in the other. I seem to think that the terrorists who want to take away the legitimate power of government are the more dangerous and imminent threats than reformists who are demanding more accountability for actions.
It would be interesting to understand what would make the U.S. qualify one as a supporter or terrorism. After I understand that, perhaps I can add some more comments.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
[...] Crossroads Arabia: Saudi Blogger Arrested [...]
December:23:2007 - 08:46
John, Thanks. I am just trying to do my bit to help.
Sparky and olivetheoil,
I think the dynamics in Saudi is such that the liberals are easy targets. The fact that they do not organize into violent groups (and shouldn’t), makes it easier to throw them in jail since there is no direct danger of violence. In the other hand, radicals have to be treated with Kids Gloves to avoid alienating the religious conservatives. This situation is illogical, but is a result of the long term alliance of the system with the conservative groups.
This is why it is important for liberals to utilize the media and international human rights organizations to bring focus to this type of treatment.
Another issue is that we still have a system where people can be arrested indefinitely without any clear charges. No one knows for certainty if Fuad committed any legitimate offense other than expressing opinions, but the fact that he is not charged with a crime after such lengthy period makes us question the legitimacy of the arrest.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Free Fouad web site is up. It can be found at this link http://freefouad.com/ .
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Saudi in US:
Yes, I get that peaceful liberals are easier targets to pick on.
It reminds me of high-school where the smart, quiet kids were put on the sidelines because the authorities were too busy coping with the psychotic ones. I remember confronting a teacher about it and she said she knew I would never be violent, so it made no sense for her to make me more concessions. At least she was frank about it.
Hence my comment about the hypocrisy.
If I recall there was discussion a few days back about the validity of the “rehabilitation” scheme and one of the concerns raised was how it would affect the law-abiding people.
I think that scheme is going to massively backfire because the way things stand, NO one has an incentive to be law abiding and plenty of reason to be violent. Get a gun, get a great deal is the very clear message.
It seems the government has learned jack over the past few years and is back to promoting extremism at the expense of moderation. Incentivizing moderates would be far more effective than trying to rehabilitate terrorists. But that would be too logical I guess for the government.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
It seems the government has learned jack over the past few years
Olive, will you return to Saudi Arabia – to a place like KAUST, perhaps? – or are you planning to remain in the U.S.?
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Solomon2:
I have no idea where I will be. Wherever I get the best opportunity both in terms of pay and career opportunities.
I like money and I like to shoot my mouth off without too much fear of retaliation:) So I guess my answer is, I’ll go where I can get both.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Solomon2:
Just to emphasize: I consider myself a career nomad. I have moved as I needed to without too much thought about the wheres and what-fors. However, whether I personally relocate or not is becoming pretty much moot because many potential employers are expanding to the Middle East and other parts of Asia. I don’t want to see my career prospects hampered because my company decides to open an office in a country where I cannot work. I like my share of the pie and in a globalized world, the only way I can get it is by asking for equal treatment everywhere.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
[...] Crossroads Arabia: Saudi Blogger Arrested [...]
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Fouad apparently wrote a letter to his friends prior to the arrest (see the link). This is a confirmation that his arrest was related to his blog activities.
http://www.alfarhan.org/archives/171#comments
Also, notice the comment regarding the campaign to get international press attention.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
As mentioned by Saudi in US, Fouad was arrested because he wrote about some of the reformers in Saudi who were arrested and the government claimed that they were supporting terrorism which is something they never did. These reformers were working together in order to start some “real” civil society in Saudi. As far as I know, Fouad wrote about two of them because he knew them personally and not because he was part of their group or supported even their cause.
Arresting Fouad because of what he wrote in his blog will cause a lot of hesitation among Saudi bloggers to talk freely about improvement opportunities and problematic areas in the Kingdom. Fouad is totally against terrorism and I do not know any blogger who support change in Saudi via violence.
It is well known and as Fouad once wrote, today almost 50% of Saudis are less then 18 years old, what does such an arrest tell them about tomorrow?, would they really get the message or ignore it and still try to participate in changing the country for the better!.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
I have sent some of the suggested letters out. This is fun. Let us get excited about it not scared. I also read about the 9 reformers who he visited. I read that they wanted to spilt the powers of the Ministry of Interior up in a peaceful way. Not a bad idea. I agree with that idea.
Prince Nayef needs to stop this power kick he is on. He still can still be powerful with his relinguishing of simple basic rights and transparency. Really. Give it up already. We will get in one way or another!!!
December:23:2007 - 08:46
Sparky, Happy Holidays and thank you. I have done the same yesterday.
December:23:2007 - 08:46
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ~John F. Kennedy
December:23:2007 - 08:46
When Fouad’s right to express his view in a civilized manner is violated, then the right of all of us to hear his view is violated at the same time!!!