The Jailed Saudi Blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, Is Released
BBC: A popular Saudi blogger who was detained by the authorities in December has been set free.

Fouad al-Farhan had used his website to criticise alleged corruption and call for democratic reforms in his country.

No official explanation was given for either the detention or the decision to free him.

Mr Farhan's detention had sparked protests from fellow bloggers. International human rights groups had been campaigning for his release.

Unlike most bloggers in Saudi Arabia, he wrote under his real name.

He used the blog to expose problems in Saudi society and campaigned on behalf of jailed Saudi liberals.

Correspondents say the whole affair surrounding the arrest Mr Farhan is part of a wider internet phenomenon issue in the Arab world.

With most governments in the region tightly controlling the activities of the official media, young people are increasingly turning to the internet to express dissent. [Source: Saudi Blogger Released from Jail]

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CNN Report: The Detention of Fouad al-Farhan in Saudi Arabia >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

CNN Report: The Detention of Fouad al-Farhan in Saudi Arabia


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BBC:
Jailed Saudi blogger remembered in campaign By Olivia Macleod

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Saudi Blogger Arrested
THE INDEPENDENT: Fouad al-Farhan knew they were coming for him. A few days before Saudi security forces swooped on his offices, he sent a letter to friends telling them he was a wanted man. "They will pick me up any time in the next two weeks," he predicted.

His crime? Writing one of the most widely read blogs in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Farhan, 32, who describes his online mission as "searching for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, public participation and other lost Islamic values", had already broken ground by refusing to hide behind a pen-name as he vented his spleen about the rampant corruption blighting political life. Now he has clocked up another first – the first blogger to be arrested in the kingdom.

The blogger was picked up on 10 December from the offices of his computer company in Jeddah, but it was not until this week that the interior ministry finally confirmed his arrest.

Blogging has seen something of a boom in Saudi Arabia, allowing dissident voices a space in a society were the media is kept on a tight leash and where political parties and public gatherings are banned. There are an estimated 600 bloggers in Saudi Arabia, male and female, conservative and liberal, writing in English and Arabic.

The arrest of Mr Farhan has sent shock waves around internet users in Saudi Arabia. "Although we have seen bloggers in Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt arrested and jailed, I thought this wouldn't happen here," said Ahmed Al-Omran, 23, a student in Riyadh who blogs under the name Saudi Jeans. Blogger who dared to expose Saudi corruption is arrested >>> By Claire Soares

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEO: Freedom of Expression Saudi Style

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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