A BLOGGER WHO was left to languish in the slammer for four whole months without any formal charges being brought against him, has today been released after 137 days in custody.

A friend and associate of Fouad Farhan, who was arrested in Saudi Arabia in December, published news of his release on his website, saying, “I spoke to him and he's in good spirits. He said he was treated really well”.

It is believed that Farhan was jailed for daring to express pro-reform views on his web site, which the slow-off-the-mark Saudis only got round to blocking at the beginning of this month.

According to Reuters, the pretext for Farhan’s arrest was that he was purportedly running a cyber campaign for the release of 10 men arrested on suspicion of financing militant groups, but who more likely were just advocating democracy. Sigh, militant democracy can be such a thorn in the side of a totalitarian, religious monarchy.

Saudi Arabia has a bit of a reputation for blocking and censoring any sites that call for government or religious reform, even to the extreme of sending an Islamic cleric to prison for two weeks in 2006 when he had the absolute gall to criticise incompetent government ministers.

The Saudi Interior Ministry told Reuters that the charges against Farhan were not security related. µ

L’Inq
Fouad Farhan’s website