Saudis Confirm Detaining Blogger
By Nicole Belle Monday Dec 31, 2007 6:29pmHmm...why do I feel sure that Dick Cheney is sitting in his undisclosed bunker trying to figure out if he could make this work in this country?
NYTimes (reg. req'd)
An outspoken Saudi blogger is being held for “purposes of interrogation,” the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed on Tuesday.
Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached by telephone, said that the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was “being questioned about specific violations of non-security laws.” Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Farhan, a 32-year-old Jeddah resident, was arrested at his office on Dec. 10, local news sources reported. Two weeks before the arrest, Mr. Farhan wrote a letter to friends warning them that his detention was imminent.
“I was told that there is an official order from a high-ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior to investigate me,” read the letter, which is now posted in English and Arabic on Mr. Farhan’s blog.
Since his arrest, friends of Mr. Farhan have continued to blog on his behalf under a banner that reads “Free Fouad” and features his picture. The blog’s Web address is www.alfarhan.org.
“The issue that caused all of this is because I wrote about the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia, and they think I’m running an online campaign promoting their issue,” the letter continued, noting that Mr. Farhan had been asked to sign a statement of apology.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that,” Mr. Farhan wrote. “An apology for what? Apologizing because I said the government is a liar when they accused those guys to be supporting terrorism?”
Ahmad al-Omran, a fellow blogger and friend of Mr. Farhan’s, said that Mr. Farhan was the first Saudi blogger to be detained by state security. The arrest has created widespread anxiety among other Saudi bloggers and activists, he said.
I think it's important to note that many people justify their bigotry against Muslims by saying that they aren't hearing "peaceful Muslims" railing against terrorism done in their name. Farhan was just such a voice, so it's ironic that the Saudis are trying to silence him for not following their talking points.
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Wonderful. One of the voices raised silenced. Almost like how the media ignores war protests in our country, eh?
This country's support of Saudi Arabia is an addiction.
Shrub has the addiction.
So will the next president.
Fuck the American people.
And if you think anything you think matters, reflect on assassinations over the last 45 years.
Yes these are the same Saudis that just bailed out Citibank.
The whole world seems to be run by despicable juntas. I believe the French had the proper solution in 1789!!
We didn't learn from the Arab Oil Embargo in the 70's.
Not one damn thing.
Edwin @ 5:
You mean complete and utter slaughter like occurred in the Reign of Terror? Robespierre was by no means a nice man.
Yeah and yet we're supposed to support the Saudis cuz they're the 'good guys'
Saudi Arabia, the country we should have invaded. They fund terrorists, build madrassas, and smile as they take our money.
I am willing to trade George W. Bush in place of Fouad Farhan's. How can I make the exchange?
Butch/Cheney have threatened the media and in some cases outright intimidated these people. The executive branch plus Cheney's fourth estate have declared issues national security top secret to hide their corruption and what Butch jr calls the "true facts".Throughout the Plame outing, executive privilge was asserted continuously and our dreadful congress did little to pursue the treason commited.
David Gregory, chief White House correspondent, was informed of Valerie Plame's outing three days before Novak's column exposed the CIA agent to the public. Gregory was not questioned by the prosecutor Fitzgerald or congress. Talk about intimidation.
Half Assed police state... Deadeye Dick could do SOOOooooo much better if It weren't for that pesky 'piece of paper', as GW called the Constitution... His blog's still up, and there's A BIG BANNER
If you liked "Brought to you by the republicans", check out part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25wISP8-TVw
You know I wonder if any journalists in our country actually read or post on these forums.
I wonder how bad it really is in the American media today.
How many reporters have been intimidated or threatened in our country? How many reporters found out something they shouldn't have and just disappeared?
How many American journalists died in Iraq? Where all of those deaths fully investigated?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Uh-oh.
Boosh is sure learning a lot these past few months. Burma - Pakistan - now Saudi Arabia. I have a bad feeling he and his cabal might be taking notes.
Naoimi Wolf is speaking to this very topic.
Her work needs to be read and distributed.
There are videos online also.
...
Here's something bloggers can do (Look @ the header of my site) ... Put his face out there.
Here's how that tactic has been used before (it's an swf flash file)... Turn up your speakers
So... a dissident is arrested and detained in Saudi Arabia!
What will you do about it?
Sure glad something like that could not... and would not... happen in the good ole' USofA.
In 1969 four college students were shot to death on the campus of Ohio State University by Ohio National Guardsmen for marching in protest of the American POLICE ACTION in South Viet Nam. Across the country, THOUSANDS were arrested and detained for similar deeds.
It's coming again. I can SMELL it in the morning air.
Will 2008 be the winter of YOUR dis-content?
It seems to me the Bhutto effect is starting to leak in other Muslim nations. Although the arrest occurred early December, the Muslims are starting to understand the effect of democracy. As Bhutto quoted, "Democracy is the best revenge". Mr. Farhan seek revenge using his "pen". His pen will be the swords of democracy in Saudi Arabia. In the past week or so, people are starting to change their opinions about the general Muslim population. Why does it take an assassination for any social changes to take major effects on any country? I hope the Saudi Arabians stands up and fight for free, fair nation especially for Muslim women.
AConfederacyofDunces @ 16:
Yeah. Like this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSuWCIYi7T4
With friends like these...
You mused, "Hmm…why do I feel sure that Dick Cheney is sitting in his undisclosed bunker trying to figure out if he could make this work in this country?". Well, he appears to have the legal tools to do so. Of course, I am referring to the administration's interruption of the law. The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive", May 9 2007, gives the government (President) the ability to name whoever they want as terrorists, or supporters of terror. If you think back to the run-up to the invasion, FOX was threatening anyone who even questioned the administration, as "bad Americans" and supporters of terror. It would be keeping in line with the far-right's agenda to make the case that criticizing the war is tantamount to aiding the enemy. When Bush gave the Justice Department the power to invoke the Asset Forfeiture Laws against anyone suspected of 'Terrorism', they stripped the voice of dissent from being heard.
So far as I know, they have not actually used these tools against American citizens, only engaged in dissent. But, they are available and were put there for a reason. And, these evildoers are still in power.
The Saudis aren't our friends. They're the pusher that wants us to remain addicted to their fucking oil. I've personally seen how they've been just as obstructionist as BushCheney in global efforts to deal with climate change. The sooner we embark on a "Manhattan Project" to develop alternative fuels and better energy conservation practices, the sooner we can shake our oil addiction and then tell the Saudis and all the other OPECkers to go fuck themselves.
L.A. Confidential @ 6:
Actually, somebody did. The government learned how to scare their own citizens.
Consumer @ 14:
It's essential to keep one's eye on the end rather than the means. The means vary, but the end remains the same: to control those in a position to honestly to inform the public...the world. In Saudi Arabia they arrest the writers/bloggers/whatevers. In Iraq the U.S. "smart-bombed" the headquarters of Al Jazeera. (They lied at first, insisting shots had been fired from the Al Jazeera headquarters. But later they owned up.) Inside the beltway, the WH controls the message by controlling access, interviews, leaks, and invitations to cocktail parties.
Iron fist? Velvet glove? Different techniques, but same intimidation.
Consumer @ 14:
And you will never find out. The CIA destroys tapes of their interrogations and nobody holds them accountable. Nobody is willing to hold the president accountable for his lies. We kidnap people from other countries and fly them across the world to be tortured, and nobody is held accountable.
And that's just what they KNOW ABOUT
The car makers won't let us have solar and electric cars while the Al-Saud junta detains bloggers and treats women like chattel
This is a horrible event however...
Looking at it from another perspective, the U.S. govt. is holding people in Gitmo for lesser acts than activist blogging.
There should be a law that makes all blogs post a warning:
Post at your own risk
News of the attacks by the establishment are going to get harder and harder to hear about, as more bloggers and reporters are intimaded and silencced one way or another. Happy New Year you Boys at Langly. Heck of a Jop.
Well, it doesn't surprise me in the least that the Saudi government is arresting political opponents and then trumpeting the arrests as being terror related. But if arresting bloggers was the worst thing they were doing, we'd all be in much better shape:
www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
Consumer @ 14:
Personally, I refer to myself as a CITIZEN and consider the label "consumer" to be an insult.
And I hold journalists personally responsible to stand up to these people.... and if their lives are on the line they should report it.
Hell, Bush and Cheney can’t even manage to round up a infected, oozing, turd like Olbermann or Rosie. It's not like they need to go looking for people to lock up. If they wanted to do so, Olberdouche would be next to Peace Mother Sheehan in gitmo.
I'm sure Bush and Cheney are thanking God that they only have one year left in office.
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