nothing new under the sun… except a very important detail: There’s saudis willing to risk everything for human rights.

Prosecution, attempts to censor those who ask for simple human rights and control them, can be only a temporary delay, eventually more useful for the cause of human rights than negative… freedom, like water, finds its own ways. It’s just a matter of time.

Saudiwoman's Weblog

The morning of March 9th turned dark for many Saudis when the judge in Mohammed F. Al Qahtani and Abdullah Al Hamid’s trial ruled that they be sentenced for about ten years each and be banned from travelling for years after they are released. All this because they were active in the Arabian Civil and Political Rights Association, ACPRA. Even though they have both started serving their sentences, there is still hope in the appeal. It is disheartening and frightening to be a citizen of a country where people can be legally charged and punished for talking to foreign press or starting a government independent human rights association. Background on the case can be read on Riyadh Bureau or in this CNN piece by Mohammed Jamjoom. Mohammed Al Qahtani’s interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour a couple of weeks back is also worth watching.

Here, I thought I would cover a bit…

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