p2pnet - rss feed: Appeal to Saudi king
p2p news / p2pnet: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has been asked to intervene on behalf of Mohsen al-Awajy, who was arrested on March 10 for criticising the Saudi authorities on the Wasatyah.com site.
In their open letter to the king, Reporters Without Borders and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information are also urging him to lift the filtering of Alwifaq.net and Elaph.com.
"An Islamist site, Alwifaq.net was reportedly filtered after it published articles criticising the Saudi government’s filtering policies," says RWB. "It is currently closed for technical reasons. Elaph.com is a liberal news site that is very popular in the Arab world."
"We deplore the fact that the ISU [Internet Service Unit (ISU), a Saudi government entity] is able on its own to censor an online publication," says the joint letter.
"It seems to use that such a decision, at least when a news website is involved, should be taken by a judge in an independent procedure, and that those responsible for the online publication should be given a chance to appeal against any filtering decision.
"We also firmly condemn the continuing detention of Mohsen al-Awajy, who was arrested on 10 March for publishing articles criticising the Saudi government on the Wasatyah.com website. We are opposed to any form of imprisonment for the expression of dissident views. We therefore ask you to intervene to obtain the release of Mr. Al-Awajy, who in our opinion is being held arbitrarily.
"Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the importance of guaranteeing online freedom of expression in your country. The Internet is a powerful medium for economic development but it is also one in which there must be room for a diversity of views."
Also See:
Reporters Without Borders - Letter to King Abdullah about his government’s Internet policies, March 16, 2006
March 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
“Alwifaq.net was reportedly filtered after it published articles criticising the Saudi government�s filtering policies,”
Kinda ironic. Very scary.
March 18th, 2006 at 11:26 am
“It seems to use that such a decision, at least when a news website is involved, should be taken by a judge in an independent procedure, and that those responsible for the online publication should be given a chance to appeal against any filtering decision.”
This is a naive statement. A Judge is Saudi Arabia will o as the King says. The Saudi Judges, like most judges in the world have been corrupted by the powers that control them. Judges, I have concluded, in most parts of the world are tyrants and cannot be counted upon.
Look what another current article here on p2pnet says:
“Ren Zhiyuan, a secondary school teacher in Zoucheng, Shandong Province, was arrested after he posted The Road to Democracy (Minzhu zhi lu), “in which he expressed the opinion that the people have the right to overthrow tyranny by violent means,” says the story….”
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
March 18th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
‘They’ are using ‘porn’ as a RUSE to test Internet Filters. No rocket science needed to figure that out;)
March 18th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
“This is a naive statement. A Judge is Saudi Arabia will o as the King says.”
Correction:
This is a naive statement. A Judge IN Saudi Arabia will DO as the King says.
Sorry
RV
March 19th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
I believe Reporters without borders did not read what was published, king has the right to do so.