Cyber-dissident held for past 20 days, while another prevented from resuming studies after release

Reporters Without Borders today called for the release of Ali Sayed al-Shihabi (photo), a 50-year-old English teacher who was arrested on 10 August for posting articles on far-left websites and who is still being held by the security services without being able to see his family. Two other cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned in Syria. The press freedom organisation also voiced dismay on learning that cyber-journalist Massoud Hamid has not been allowed to resume his journalism studies since his release five weeks ago on completing a three-year jail term for posting photos of a demonstration on the Internet. “Syria, which is on our list of the Internet's 15 ‘black holes,' is getting tougher with people who express dissident views online,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Four cyber-dissidents have been arrested, arbitrarily detained and tortured in the past three years. President Bashar al-Assad has become the Middle East's worst Internet predator.” In the months before his arrest, Shihabi had been questioned several times by the security services about the articles he was posting on the Internet, especially on the far-left website www.rezgar.com. When his wife tried to visit him at the Kafr Soussa detention centre, officials told her she was not allowed to see him but she could bring him some of his personal effects. Shihabi who has two children, was previously imprisoned for a year in 1975 and for nine years from 1982 to 1991, for being a member of the outlawed Communist Party of Syria. Meanwhile, Hamid has not been allowed to rejoin the journalism department at Damascus university, where he was studying at the time of his arrest in July 2003 for posting photos of a pro-Kurdish demonstration in Damascus. The authorities have also not returned his identity card, which means he could be arrested whenever he goes out. He has vision problems and pains in his feet as a result of being tortured while in prison. ------------- Create your blog with Reporters without borders: www.rsfblog.org