Arrest of 4th online journalist in 16 months makes Syria the Middle East's biggest jail for cyber-dissidents

Reporters Without Borders called for the release of online journalist Muhened Abdulrahman, arrested on 7 September for posting articles on independent news websites and urged diplomats in post in Damascus to intervene on behalf of the four cyber-dissidents now in Syrian jails. "Syria is today the Middle East's biggest prison for cyber-journalists. We know that prisoners of opinion are subjected to torture in prison. We must campaign urgently for these men before they are destroyed,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. Abdulrahman, 25, was picked up by security services in Damascus on his return from the village of Qamishly in Syrian Kurdistan where he had interviewed a Kurdish political leader. His family has had no news of him since his arrest. The young graduate from Damascus University of journalism was working for independent news sites Rezgar.com and Syrianforum.org. His work included numerous interviews and profiles of Syrian political figures. The three other cyber-dissidents imprisoned since the beginning of May 2005 are: Habib Saleh, writer and contributor to news site Elaph.com, arrested in Mai 2005 and sentenced 15 months later to three months in prison; Mohammed Ghanem, who ran www.surion.org, arrested on 31 March; Ali Sayed al-Shihabi, editorialist on Rezgar.com, arrested on 10 August 2006. Press release in Kurdish ------------- Create your blog with Reporters without borders: www.rsfblog.org