Syrian Blogger and Freedom of Speech advocate Razan Ghazzawi was released on Saturday along with her female colleagues. The news came via Razan's sister, who tweeted earlier this evening:

@NadineGhazzawi: Sister is home :) but she can't leave the country anymore…they won't allow her.

Free Razan poster used by supporters to call for her released and that of her colleagues

At the time these lines are being written, Razan's male colleagues remain in prison, according to Free Razan page on Facebook:

Razan and all the females from the SCM are FREE , Razan is FREE !

Razan was arrested earlier this week along with 13 of her colleagues during a raid on the offices of the Syrian Center for Freedom of Expression in Damascus.

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/2012.

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (6)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

UPDATE: Razan Ghazzawi was released on Saturday along with her female colleagues. At the time of writing these lines Razan's male colleagues were still in custody.

Syrian security forces have arrested Syrian blogger and freedom of speech advocate Razan Ghazzawi on Thursday during a raid on the offices of the Syrian Center for Freedom of Expression in Damascus where the activist works. Ghazzawi was arrested along with thirteen of her colleagues, including the head of the center Mr. Mazen Darwish.

This is the second time Razan Ghazzawi is arrested by the Syrian authorities. She was first detained in December 2011 at the Syrian-Jordanian border when she was about to attend a conference on freedom of expression online. Her arrest sparked an online outcry and an international campaign called for her immediate release. Razan was eventually released after spending 15 days in jail.

Ghazzawi is a US-born Syrian blogger who has contributed to Global Voices Online and Global Voices Advocacy. She is one of the few courageous bloggers in Syria who writes under her real name.

One of the Free Razan posters shared by supporters after Razan Ghazzawi was arrested in December last year

The Syrian blog Nidalat [ar] is one of the first outlets to break the news. It posts the following statement:

The news caused disbelief among netizens who were very quick to react. Nadine Ghazzawi is Razan's sister. She tweets:

@NadineGhazzawi They arrested my sister Razan Ghazzawi again! She got arrested at work in the center of Damascus today evening

Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin laments:

@ASE: Yet another sad day for #Syria and #FreeSpeech

BSyria remembers his last conversation with Razan:

@BSyria: I chatted with Razan yesterday. I asked her: Are u being harassed? She said, “No, I told u I'm not that important.” #FreeRazan #syria

For more reactions on Ghazzawi's arrest, please check the hashtag #FreeRazan on Twitter. A Facebook page calling for her release is also up.

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests.

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (16)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

On Monday, a court in the Moroccan city of Taza sentenced 24 year-old student Abdelsamad Haydour to 3 years in jail and a fine of USD 1,200 for criticizing the king of Morocco in a video [ar] posted on YouTube. According to the official state news agency [fr], Mr. Haydour is accused of “attacking the sacred values of the nation.”

According to one Moroccan news website Mr. Haydour had no legal assistance during the hearing and the Court did not appoint a lawyer to defend the accused in accordance with the Moroccan law.

Under Moroccan law the king is considered “inviolable.” But the Moroccan constitution also guarantees (Article 25) “freedom of thought, opinion and expression in all its forms.”

The incriminating four-minute clip was posted in early January, during a week of social unrest and violent clashes between demonstrators and anti-riot police in the unemployement-stricken city of Taza.

In the video, Abdelsamad Haydour is seen talking to a group of people in the street, harshly criticizing the king and his entourage (video posted by zawali66):

The ruling comes less than a week after an 18-year-old appeared before a court in the capital Rabat accused of committing a crime of lèse-majesté by posting pictures and videos on Facebook mocking king Mohammed VI.

The news of the sentence against Mr. Haydour provoked some strong reactions on social networks.

Rasta Basta tweets:

@Basta: just a thought: in #Morocco defaming God does not lead to prison, defaming the king does, for 3 yrs; any conclusions? #HR #ArabSpring

Samia Errazzouki tweets:

@Charquaouia: I've lost count of the people jailed in Morocco since the new constitution and elections for merely expressing themselves with words.

Burrito tweets:

@Burrito_SB: How many people should get arrested for simply expressing their opinion do we need to realize that nothing has changed in #morocco #maroc

Despite sustained growth, Morocco still suffers from high unemployment, especially prevalent among the youngest with more than a quarter of graduates unable to find a job.

Many Moroccan cities witness daily demonstrations over unemployment often led by university graduates who wish to integrate the public sector. Last month four of these protesters set themselves on fire in the capital Rabat. One of them lost his life.

But it is in the city of Taza where the social tension reached its peak. The city witnessed several weeks of violent clashes between demonstrators and anti-riot police, culminating on February 1st when the police proceeded to a house-to-house search, arresting several suspected rioters.

On Tuesday, 17 individuals from Taza were sentenced to up to 8 months in jail for “vandalism and destruction of public property,” the local media reported.

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (1)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

This isn't the first time a Moroccan internet user faces such charges. In 2008 Fouad Mourtada, a young engineer, was sentenced to three years in prison for impersonating the king’s brother on Facebook. An international outcry and a campaign of support forced the authorities to release Mr Mourtada a month after his arrest.

Walid Bahomane's arrest is the first since a constitutional reform last summer (theoretically) revoked the “sacred” character of the monarch. The king is still, however, the focus of a great deal of devotion in the country.

A copy of the police report filed against Mr Bahomane emerged on the internet, revealing a first: according to the document, items seized by the police are “two Facebook pages (sic) containing phrases and images insulting the sacred values, and an IBM computer.​​”

Copy of the police report filed against Mr. Walid Bahomane as posted on Facebook.

Despite calls for his release the judge decided to send Walid to a juvenile detention facility near the capital pending his trial. A group of netizens have reacted to the arrest of Mr Bahomane by creating a support group on Facebook called “Mohammed VI, my freedom is more sacred than you!“, where members are invited to publish and share cartoons of the king.

Cartoon representing king Mohammed VI posted on Facebook

The group's preamble reads [ar]:

هذه مجموعة تضامنية مع الشاب وليد بحمان، 18 سنة، معتقل بسجن الأحداث بسلا بتهمة إهانة قداسة محمد السادس على الفيسبوك. فلنثبت لمحمد السادس أن حريتنا أقدس منه

Zineb El Ghazoui, a co-creator of the group, writes on her blog [fr]:

[cette arrestation bat] en brèche la propagande de l'Etat marocain autour du changement et des prétendues avancées démocratiques.

On Twitter, some are timidly following suit. Musique Arabe tweets [fr]:

@MusiqueArabe Opération soutien à Walid Bahomane - publions tous sur nos profils la caricature de notre choix.

Despite the recent constitutional reforms in Morocco the regime does not seem prepared to tolerate any violation of its red lines. In July 2011, a few days after the adoption of the new constitution, a French newspaper, Le Courrier International, was censored [fr] in Morocco because it contained an irreverent caricature of the king.

The independent press has often suffered the wrath of the regime when it dared tackle the sensitive subject of the monarchy. So much so that the Internet seems today the last frontier where most Moroccans can still exercise their right to free expression.

Something Moroccan netizens seem to be fully aware of. Inspired by the Arab spring, they seem determined to close ranks and show solidarity with Mr Bahomane.

As a result, exercising censorship will be even more difficult for the regime.

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (22)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

What is Mamfakinch! and why has it been attacked?

Mamfakinch!

In the wake of the Arab revolutions, a couple of Moroccan online activists launched a militant website on February 17, 2011. They called it Mamfakinch!, which in Moroccan Arabic means “We won't give up!”.

In the six months of its existence Mamfakinch! has attracted a record audience of over a million unique visitors across its two main outlets which comprise an online news portal and a blog. The site's goal, according to its members, is to provide a platform for free expression for opposition voices and pro-democracy activists.

Against the backdrop of the Arab revolutions, Mamfakinch! set about to aggregate, curate and disseminate citizen media material, emulating the work of similar outlets in the region, notably the celebrated Tunisian news portal Nawaat.org.

But as Mamfakinch! readers and supporters have grown in number, so too have its detractors. “The website has gained a lot of popularity in the Moroccan activist blogosphere but we had also attracted a lot of enemies. Attacks against the website have started very early on but they are becoming increasingly aggressive” says this site's co-manager who also explains that the platform is receiving regular threats and countless derogatory comments. [Please note: the Mamfakinch! representatives interviewed in this article wish to remain anonymous].

One video recently surfaced on the internet purporting to show an attack against Mamfakinch!. The site was quick to publish an article [Fr] in which it (very sarcastically) dismissed the alleged attack as “a miserable spoof”.

The Attack

This Sunday, while the website was securing the exclusive live coverage of the pro-democracy marches and demonstrations being held across the kingdom, access to its main portal was denied. The blockade lasted for several hours before the site again became accessible late in the evening.

According to the site administrators, Mamfakinch! came under a large-scale DDoS attack. “The attack seems to originate from thousands of dynamic IPs localted in Saudi Arabia (!)” says the website's webmaster. The site's server has, in the matter of a few hours, became overloaded with the amount of new automated IPs' requests.

“The site is now up and running and we have taken measures to insure that such attacks don't happen in the future… although no one can be absolutely sure” says this co-founder of the site who adds that his colleagues, “for obvious security reasons, prefer not to disclose details of the steps taken to secure access to the site.”

Like in Ben Ali's Tunisia

Before the revolution in Tunisia, Morocco was praised for the relative freedom enjoyed by its internet users. But the country is now seeing a surge in attacks against online dissidents, several of whom have had their Facebook or email accounts hacked into. Phishing techniques were probably used to harvest account passwords.

DDoS attacks, infiltration techniques and blockage of dissident domain names were common during the Ben Ali era in Tunisia. Those types of attacks are increasingly becoming commonplace in Morocco. The site of the irreverent magazine Demain Online has not yet recovered from an attack it suffered over a month ago. The website 20Fevrier.com, believed to be related to the pro-democracy movement in Morocco, also came under attack several weeks ago. It has been offline ever since.

“The more they attacks us, the more we learn!”

Paradoxically, in the Arab world, the most experienced activists usually come from the most repressive environments. After a long confrontation with their governments, Tunisian and Egyptian activists have become experts in circumvention tools. This expertise is now being transferred to other countries in the region where militants are learning each day as they struggle against attempts to censor their voices online.

This statement from a member of Mamfakinch! sums up the situation quite well: “The more they attack us, the more we learn! Let them come!”

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (2)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

I have received two messages on my Facebook inbox, in the first message, the sender threatened of slaughtering me like sheep being slain! in the second message titled ” an appointment” , the sender says to me : “we shall meet at Elhajeb where murdering you is going to take a place!” Elhajeb, however, 15 km away from my village, is the nearest place which i often go to every now and then! This points out that the terrorist exerted extra efforts to find out my location!

In a short video appeal posted on his blog Kacem says he's not against Muslims and that he supports freedom of religion, asking for his own right to freedom of conscience to be respected.

Kacem also says his repeated reports about abusive messages and threatening users have brought no response so far from Facebook who, the blogger says, should take these claims more seriously.

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (1)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Nevertheless, campaigners and supporters from all over the world mounted pressure on the Moroccan authorities. Bashir was released on February 8, 2010, two months after his arrest.

In the following interview Bashir tells his story.

Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

First, I want to thank the people working for Global Voices for giving me this opportunity to connect with their readers, and for their support and solidarity with me and my cause. I wish them more success and progress.
My name is Bashir Hazzam. I was born in 1982 in Tarhjicht where I received primary education, then moved to Bouizakarne for secondary education. I got my baccalaureate in 2002 in Tarhjicht, then joined the Faculty of Sharia (Islamic Law) at Ait Melloul in Agadir, from which I graduated in Sharia Law in 2008. I engaged very early on in associative work within local associations and was involved in student activities with the National Union of the Students of Morocco (UNEM). I'm a member of the Justice and Charity group (a de jure banned Islamist group, also known as Al-Adl wal-Ihssan or Al-Adl), and also a blogger since 2007.

How did you discover the blogosphere and what do you write about in general?

I discovered the world of blogging when I was a student: I came across a number of blogs and realized that blogging enables people to publish their ideas easily, without control and for free. I liked the idea so much that, after a brief research, I ended up creating my own blog on the Arabic blog publishing website Maktoob. That was back in September 1th, 2007. I chose to call it Al-Bushra (The Good News). My first post was titled: “Electoral Promises: Facts or Fiction.” By the way, I was interrogated by the police about the content of this article when I was arrested last December. As for my writings, I generally blog about national, international political, intellectual and religious issues.

To what extent has blogging and the Internet in general helped you in your life and activities?

The blogosphere enabled me to exchange views and ideas and communicate with many bloggers and writers from around the world. This had a positive impact on my life. Though I'm new to this field, I believe that with the passage of time, I will be able to discover new and important things that will help me improve my blogging and everyday life skills. The Internet is growing so fast, which makes the use of it highly beneficial for those who master it.

After your arrest with Abdullah Boukfou and others, the authorities claimed they had done so because you published “false information harmful to the reputation of Morocco.” Do you agree with this version of events? How do you explain the reasons behind your detention?

I completely disagree with the official version because the statement [I published on my blog] does not include any term that could cause harm to the reputation or interests of the country. And anyone who takes a look at the content of this statement can confirm that it is perfectly harmless, and that it does not include any insult to the country's reputation. To the extent that the Court decided the statement was inoffensive and acquitted me on this specific charge, but still it prosecuted me on the charge of participating in an armed protest, even though I did not participate in the demonstration in the first place. This is something that surprised me really.
I think the reason behind my arrest was to impose a media blackout around the events that occurred in Tarhjicht, after the violent intervention of the security forces against unarmed students and the population that sided with them. They are trying to prevent the truth from filtering to the public.
In fact, the charge of insulting the country's reputation on human rights should be directed at the local authority which perpetrated violence of various kinds against protesters and detainees, who simply demanded their rights in a peaceful and civilized way. We should never have been blamed. We have published the facts that occurred on the ground only to become victims of the tyranny met upon the population at random.

How were you treated during detention? And do you think you received a fair trial?

Except for some sporadic provocations at the beginning of the investigation, officers treated me well. The trial was not fair: I was sentenced to four months in prison, Abdullah Boukfou, the owner of the internet café, to one year, while three students and blogger Boubaker Al-Yadib (who was since released) received a six-month sentence. The trial was moving towards clearing us of all charges when, against the odds, the verdict was pronounced against us. We, and our defense team, felt that the process was controlled by the authorities. So much so that the verdicts were so unequal, particularly as the charges against me were the same as those filed against Abdullah Boukfou, but he ended up receiving a harsher sentence.

There were several interpretations of your release from jail: some said it was an implicit recognition by the authorities of their “mistake,” others suggested it was a public relations exercise to save the reputation of the country abroad. What's your take on this?

All these things might be true. Those indeed might have been the motives behind the authorities' decision to retreat from their initial stance, that has only distorted the image and reputation of the country abroad.

Has the campaign of solidarity in your opinion, influenced the course of events? Do these campaigns really matter?

Yes, campaigns of solidarity conducted by bloggers in Morocco and abroad, led by the Moroccan Association of Bloggers, and broadly supported by national and international human rights organizations, particularly Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, as well as the media, have contributed significantly to influence and pressure the officials to release us. Thanks to the efforts of all those -and praise first be to Allah- I regained my freedom after two months spent in prison. Without their campaigning, I would have remained behind bars. Also, my affiliation to Al-Adl, has brought a significant pressure to bear, as it is the largest political force of opposition in Morocco. All those factors have eventually contributed to my release.

How would you characterize freedom of expression in Morocco, especially on the Internet?

Freedom of expression in our country is plummeting and is in constant deterioration. Figures from international organizations shore up this claim, placing Morocco among countries with the least regard for freedom of expression. Reality as well supports this perception with a succession of arrests and trials of many bloggers, journalists, human rights activists and opposition figures, harassed solely because of their views. As for freedom over the Internet, the state increasingly wants to impose its control on it. This has been made evident after the attacks suffered by bloggers and the latest arrest, a couple of weeks ago, of a web designer, Abdellatif Ouiass, creator of the website “The World's Best Head of State,” although he has since been released on bail.
This shows clearly how the hands and the eyes of the Moroccan intelligence services want now to extend to the Internet. This, however, will have no significant impact given the extent of the information revolution, which each day overpowers repressive regimes.

After all that's happened, have you changed the way you blog or write? Do you have self-censorship?

What happened will not affect me. Despite the arbitrary detention, I kept my writing style intact. It will not affect my thoughts or my views. Everyone in this world has the right to express her/his opinions without censorship as long as that does not contradict laws, that are well known in this regard.

What advice would you have for bloggers in Morocco, and in the world who fear the wrath of their governments or regimes?

I would invite people to take advantage of technologies offered by the Internet to highlight their skills and talents, and express their ambitions and aspirations through blogging, so as to break the systematic marginalization imposed by authoritarian states, especially on the youth. That's a way for those countries to reach real progress and keep pace with developed nations, provided that expression remains disciplined, responsible and respectful of the privacy and specificity of others. There shouldn't be any fear of arrest or the repression that hinders the will of the people, as long as what is published by the blogger does not violate the law.

Do you have a final word for those who stood in solidarity with you?

In the end, and through this free outlet, I wish to extend my thanks and gratitude to each one of those who supported me during this ordeal, especially the Moroccan Association of Bloggers, all bloggers and activists in and outside the country, who have shown great solidarity with me. I also thank my defense lawyers, media outlets that highlighted my case, my brothers in the Justice and charity group, and all national and international human rights organizations, especially Freedom House , Reporters Without Borders and all those throughout the world whose conscience has led them to support my case. I urge upon them to continue their solidarity until Abdullah Boukfou, Abdellatif Ouiass (who's now released on bail) and all prisoners of conscience in the prisons of the country are released.

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (3)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Naoufel Chaara is a talented Moroccan blogger. His website [Ar] has been recently nominated for the Deutsche Welle's 2010 BOBs international award in the Best Arabic Blog category. Naoufel's usually caustic views on people and power in his country and the Arab world, often pack a strong punch with his pretty sizable readership.

One would expect that a dissenting voice is mainly threatened by local power's systems of censorship, but Naoufel's surprise was so big when he learned that his blog was actually banned outside of his country's frontiers.

In the following short interview, the blogger explains how he came to know about the ban and if this impacts on his writings.

Can you introduce your blog and the kind of topics you cover?

How did you learn that your website was blocked in some Arab countries?

How do you explain the censorship?

What was the reaction of your blog's readers?

Will this ban influence the way you write on your blog?

Are there ways to circumvent this censorship?

Any final thoughs?

Written by Hisham Almiraat · comments (4)
Share: facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper