Freedom is a right of ALL human beings. The UN Declaration of Human Rights was passed at the end of the Nazi and Stalinist era -- it holds true for Saudis as well. Freedom of expression should not lead to jail sentences! Long live writers and I do think online global forums such as blogs and international media are transforming our planet -- for the better.

Thank you Hala for this note.

It is unfortunate to keep reading these stories about people from various countries in the Middle East still being arrested for the opinions they express. Only last week I was reading about Karim Amer, an Egyptian now serving a period in jail for opinions he expressed on his Blog. We are badly in need for a wave of change in the Middle East. Change to rusty mind sets, change to ridiculously unjust laws and regulations, change to day to day behaviors. Every citizen of any country in which freedom of expression is prosecuted must feel responsible. We cannot blame our governments and hide away. It is us who must decide what our governments do and how they behave. I pray for the release of Karim, Fouad and any other brave person who dares to express his/her opinion. They are the energy of this needed Wave of Change.

The House of Ibn Saud will soon understand that giving in to reactionary fundamentalists who urge the suppression of the rights of the individual in favor of some perceived advantage for the subsistence survival of the tribe is unsustainable. Whether the same reactionaries which the regime coddles turn on it and finally arrange for its downfall despite such coddling and placation, or whether the oppressed public who daily see the inviability of a reactionary state with only temporary and waning prosperity in return finally and justifiably lose their patience and extract a modern society from the state's power holders is immaterial. Given the current trajectory of both the global energy economy and the geopolitical state of the region, this end will come sooner rather than later. The potential for this change to go astray and much blood to be spilled is great, and the loss of the legacy of Abd al-Aziz Al Saud will be sad. But the historical fact is that oppression does not work and that the inherent rights of the individual will not be violated without ultimate cost to the violators. One hopes that the Saudi regime comes to understand this, deeply, before it's too late. Prosperity without liberty is no different than slavery, the slaves are just well-fed, and liberty is in turn impossible without democracy. All people are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable and inherent rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Without asking anyone else's permission.

I am an American citizen by the way without connections to or interests in the region. (Aside from via my nation's foreign policy.)

This is American way of political. In one side ,US government support the Saudi government ,so they can get the oil. on the other side US mediums support the freedom and the people fighting for freedom. So ,what is the result? America get the benefit of oil and the people's support at the same time, whatever will happen in Saudi Arab, the American will be the winner.
So, I demand,:"the US must make their stance clearly, doing things as they saying, quiting the double benefit.

I'm actually quite interested to see what he wrote that got him into soo much trouble. Nevertheless, one important point: IF an individual breaks the law then he/she will be subjected to the legal reprecussions. (Note: I said 'if')

Also, saudi jeans' blog, and quite frankly, the issues/complaints that often arise puzzle me. As a Saudi citizen are you not bound follow the laws in place? If you want movie Cinema's in your country (as an example) you should recognize that this would in breach of some civil/social codes in place. I follow several laws in my home country (Canada) that don't please me, yet as a Canadian I am bound to follow these. In saudi jeans' case it just happens that several of the laws in Saudi Arabia are at the social level.

My suggestion to all: Let's see the official response of charges or laws that were breached. Then work from this point forward. Our Canadian/American laws are not global. Remember, the World does differ outside of N. America.

Free speech is free speech! I totally agree. But there could be a legimate breach of law here.

Sometimes when you achieve recognition for something you do well you may attract the wrong kind of people. If Fouad al-Farhan had been asked by criminals for help in freeing their friends in jail, What are his choices? He could be under protection. That might not be the case in this situation but we need to be alert. Don't blaim the King if you don't know the whole story. I don't support terrorism but I do free press.
However, if Fouad al-Farhan was arrested solely for his blog content because the King didn't like it, then I have a message for the Saudi Ministry:
Any person writing about Saudi Arabia or any other country is opening a window into your country. We learn to love and admire your country for your achievements. Reporting about internal problems in your country allows us to learn that you have problems just like us. A feeling of country brotherhood is born from this. I respectfully ask you to release this community leader and accept the love and warmth from our country to yours.
Peaceful wishes.

In the era of the blog, the word is so much mightier than the gun. It always was, but it took on a whole new proportion. We no longer need charismatic people to lead crowds, the crowds themselves are composed of well-informed and opinionated individuals. That the Saudi government wants to control Freedom of speech is nothing more than a utopia. They may be able to scare people for a few more years, but soon the dissenters and risk-takers will outnumber the jail cells and police forces to keep the status quo. It would be better for them to start opening up slowly and give some freedom for people to vent before they reach a critical mass. It's how it always happened. French Revolution, American Revolution, and all the subsequent decolonization shortly after WWII. If I could give advice to the Saudi government: learn from history. Just because you're a Muslim country does not mean you can't make the same mistakes others did before you.

The jailing of a blogger in Saudi Arabia for criticizing the government is not that different from what has happened in Canada.

Police were called by Vancouver City government staff and managers on individuals believed to be associated with the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog, a blog which criticized city government supervisors and managers for often locking doors to services they were funded to provide. In fact a comment remains on the DTES Enquirer blog from Vancouver Police Detective Fenton requesting that someone from the blog contact him.

One suspected blogger received a visit from a police detective at his home. The detective admitted that no charges would be laid as it had been determined that the content of the blog was not false, but he issued a warning that he had grave concerns about the content of the blog.

Even a homeless Vancouver man, William “Bill” Simpson, received an email from a Vancouver police officer who wanted to speak to him about the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog on which he was believed to be blogging. Simpson told the officer that he wasn’t a blogger.

The calling of police on citizens suspected of being associated with the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog has been part of a campaign of harassment by the Vancouver City government to apparently deter blogging. In Jan. 2007, a Carnegie staff person led Simpson to the office of Carnegie Head of Security where he was told that he was banned from the Carnegie Learning Center (on the third floor of Carnegie Community Center) for daring to blog on the Downtown Eastside Enquirer. Simpson wasn’t even a blogger.

In June 2007, Simpson was elected to the Carnegie Board of Directors by low income Downtown Eastside residents upset that he had been banned from the Carnegie Learning Center. Two weeks later, a City government manager, Ethel Whitty, personally delivered Simpson a letter on City of Vancouver government stationery signed by a top City manager, Jacquie Forbes-Roberts, informing him that he was now banned from the entire Carnegie Community Center. The reason given in the letter for the banning was that Simpson operates a website which “features links” to the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog. Simpson asked Whitty if he could enter the Carnegie building to attend Board meetings and she said no. He also asked Whitty to identify anything on the blog that was inaccurate. She offered nothing.

At one point City managers and supervisors at the City-operated Carnegie Community Center were accused of launching a "witch hunt" for bloggers. A long term volunteer at Carnegie said four government managers and/or supervisors individually interrogated him about whether a female friend of his was blogging. Two teachers also teamed up and interrogated him. He was not the only person encouraged to turn in bloggers. It was after those interrogations in Jan. 2007 that Bill Simpson was first banned.

For the entire year of 2007, criticisms of the Vancouver City government for their persecution of bloggers have been kept alive on the internet. Only in the last couple of weeks has Vancouver’s mainstream media, the Vancouver Sun newspaper and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio, picked up the story.

Nobody in Vancouver has yet been jailed for blogging. But the Vancouver government is moving dangerously close to Saudi intimidation tactics to deter criticisms of government on blogs.

Here’s something ANYONE with a website can do to help free ...

Put Fouad al-Farhan's face out there for the world to see.

That's the first step.

The next step... and it's worked before in much more drastic circumstances?

Look below the banner @ my site and click the link that says

"Here’s how that tactic has been used before (it’s an swf flash file)"

...and turn up your speakers...

Saudi embassy in D.C. here we come!