Posts Tagged ‘Saudi Arabia’
June 2nd, 2011
Two Shiite bloggers who were
arrested for their coverage of peaceful demonstrations in Shia-majority area of
Qatif have been released by Saudi security authorities. The two young men, Mustafa Badr Al-Mubarak and Sayyid Hussein Kadham Al-Hashem, were arrested on 27 April 2011 when security forces broke into their homes and confiscated their laptops. Their blogs contained extensive coverage of their involvement in human rights activism and several peaceful demonstrations. A
new law passed in January 2011 requires anyone wishing to post material online to obtain a press license from Saudi authorities.
April 21st, 2011
A
Saudi Arabian writer and teacher has become the most prominent figure to be arrested in the country since protests started in February. Nadhir al-Majid was
detained on April 17 in the Persian Gulf city of al-Khobar. Rights groups have urged Interior Minister Prince Nayef al-Saud to release him immediately. Over
160 dissidents have been arrested in the last two months.
March 11th, 2011
Police in the eastern city of Qatif
opened fire on protesters and beat them with batons at a protest on Thursday, resulting in at least three people being injured. The protest was held to demand the release of prisoners that demonstrators say are being held without charge. The Saudi interior ministry recently
announced that all protests are illegal and security forces would use any measures to stop them from going ahead.
March 7th, 2011
Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has announced a
ban on all protests and marches in the kingdom, warning that security forces will come down hard on any demonstrators. Thousands of additional
troops have been sent to the restive eastern province of the country. The statement came as opponents of the government called for a “day of rage” on Friday 11 March.
January 12th, 2011
Saudi Arabia’s already restricted cyberspace is now subject to new regulation that allows the state to directly supervise and
control internet material. The
law passed on 1 January 2011 requires anyone wishing to post material on-line to obtain a press license and to abide by content limitation regulations which ban “offending others”, “compromising the economy or security” and disobedience to Islamic Law. The Saudi authorities regularly harass journalists who challenge the states policies. Law professor
Mohammed Abdallah Al-Abdulkarim was detained in early December 2010 after writing an article on-line in criticism of the government.
December 9th, 2010
Mohammed Abdallah Al-Abdulkarim, a law professor at Imam Mohammed bin Saud University, was detained on 5 December after he wrote an article alleging disagreements within the Saudi royal family. Al-Abdulkarim’s article for Royaah.net also detailed King Abdullah’s travel to the United States for medical reasons. The professor is currently being held in Al-Hair prison in Riyadh.
August 9th, 2010
The Saudi Arabian government and RIM, the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry have
compromised over plans to
ban the BlackBerry messenger service. The deal reportedly allows for a server to be built in Saudi Arabia, overcoming the concerns of the government that data was sent abroad. Fears were originally raised by the United Arab Emirates, who plan to implement their own ban in October.
Experts have raised concerns that this will allow the authorities access to private messages and content and could increase state censorship. The Saudi government claims that BlackBerrys are used by terrorists and a threat to national security.
August 3rd, 2010
Kuwait has asked BlackBerry’s Canadian maker RIM to
block pornographic sites though they will not
suspend the messenger services like their Gulf neighbours.
RIM have agreed to block 3,000 porn sites and have promised to do so by the end of this year.
