The mettle of bloggers

From Global Voices:

"For days, cyberactivists have been busy discussing the case of Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji, who was arrested, put on trial, sentenced - and then freed, and then put on trial again and finally acquitted.

His crime? Posting this article, part of which is translated here into English, on Hespress [Ar], in which he describes how the Moroccan King's charity and gratuities towards his people benefits “the lucky sons and daughters of this country and overlooks the rest.”

He explained his point:

'Countries which respect their citizens do not turn them into beggars under the feet of nobility. Instead, they develop factories and workshops for them to work in and earn their living with dignity. Even if we assume that such gratuities are only dispersed to deserving citizens such as the special needs and poor, which is impossible at any rate, this isn't anything that makes Moroccan citizens proud. The right to work, health care and education are granted by the Constitution. Therefore, the state should provide decent means of living for its citizens - other than humiliating them in this shameless manner.'

And bloggers around the region have been nodding their heads in agreement - for they might just as well substitute the name Morocco from the article and replace it with the name of their countries."

Also worthwhile reading is this piece on newmatilda on how arresting a prominent blogger in Malaysia may have backfired:

"Ten days ago, Malaysian politics attracted international attention when a prominent blogger was arrested without charge under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA) following allegations he had insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. The arrest puts him in a legal black hole, and is shaping up as a serious test of the direction Malaysia will take in its attitude to human rights, corruption and the way it controls its media."

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