Saudi Arabia

Head of the Commission for Audiovisual Media, Dr. Riadh Najem, announced at a meeting with businessmen and journalists that he plans to create a new agency to monitor and censor video content on YouTube and other sites.

Hamza Kashgari was imprisoned following tweets he posted in February 2012, recounting an imaginary conversation with the Prophet Mohammed, and viewed as blasphemous by authorities.

A male journalist who expressed support for an end to the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is currently held in detention without access to relatives or legal counsel.

The press and media in Saudi Arabia are not free and legal provisions governing information were strengthened in 2011 by the enacting of the Anti-Cyber Crimes Law.

Saudi authorities arrested a prominent human rights lawyer and activist on 2 October 2013, for hosting a weekly discussion group for reformists.

Saudi authorities have blocked access to the site Oct26driving.com, which launched a campaign calling on women to defy the driving ban by taking the wheel on 26 October 2013.

Leading Saudi Arabian writer and journalist Wajeha Al-Huwaider has been the subject of a sustained harassment campaign since May 2003, when she was banned from publishing in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi officials have been refusing to register human rights groups, leaving members subject to criminal prosecution for “setting up an unregistered organization”.

A Saudi Criminal Court found liberal activist Raif Badawi guilty of insulting Islam through his website and in comments he made on television, and added three months to his term for “parental disobedience.”

Saudi Arabia sentenced seven government critics to prison on 24 June 2013, for allegedly inciting protests and harming public order, largely by using Facebook.

Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court sentenced a prominent human rights activist to five years in prison on 17 June 2013, based on his writings and exposure of human rights abuses.

A Saudi court convicted two Saudi women’s rights activists on June 15, 2013, for trying to help a woman flee the country and sentenced them each to 10 months in prison and a two-year travel ban.

Nimr al-Nimr, 52, went on trial before Riyadh’s Specialized Criminal Court on 26 March 2013, accused of “sowing discord” and “undermining national unity.” Prosecutors called for his execution by “crucifixion,” a punishment of beheading followed by display of the decapitated body in public.

Four Saudi activists are under investigation after forming a human rights group on April 3, 2013, and could face prosecution for “establishing an illegal organization”.

Human rights defender Walid Abu al-Khair’s trial comes amid a sweeping crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society activists throughout the kingdom.

In submissions to the UN Human Rights Council, the International Publishers Association recommended ways to support the governments of Nigeria, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia to improve their records on freedom of expression.