The C.R.I.M.E. Report

ISSUE #62 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

Student Confronts Supreme Leader

Leaders of the Iranian regime like to speak before university groups, part of a tradition of “guiding” students while simultaneously demonstrating their enlightenment. Such appearances are normally tame affairs, but earlier this month something unusual happened when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei hosted a group of students from Iran’s top universities: The Ayatollah got a tongue-lashing.

Defying taboos, Mahmoud Vahidnia, an unassuming student who has won international math awards, raised his hand and stood up to speak. For the next 20 minutes, he forcefully confronted the Supreme Leader over abuse of political prisoners, a brutal crackdown on protesters, and distortions in the state-run media. No cameras were rolling at the time, so Vahidnia’s exact words are not completely clear. But he apparently slammed the power structure of the regime and asked Khamenei: “I don’t know why in this country it’s not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you. Do you think that you make no mistakes?”

With hundreds of students witnessing the challenge – and many applauding at various points – the regime could not cover up the incident, which quickly became a sensation. Mowjcamp, the Green Movement’s main news site, broke the story with a piece that became the highest-rated link ever on the Balatarin news-rating portal. Even the Supreme Leader’s own site reported the incident. The fate of Vahidnia, however, remains unknown. While the state claims to have taken no action against the student, he could not be reached for further comment.



Police Raid Fatma Arabicca’s Facebook Account

Fellow blogger Lina Ben Mhenni was one of the last people to see Fatma Riahi the day she was arrested. Fatma, known in the blogosphere as “Arabicca,” was summoned for questioning by Tunisian security services on November 2. For five days, she disappeared.

Fatma, a college theatre professor, gained fame for her blog’s sardonic criticism of Tunisian politics. Authorities apparently suspected she might the famous cartoonist-blogger who goes by the name “Blog de Z”. They confiscated her computer, demanded her Internet passwords, and even searched her Facebook account.

Fatma’s friends and supporters quickly launched an urgent campaign – called “Free Arabicca” - to raise international awareness and pressure for Fatma’s release. The campaign encouraged for people all over the world to stand in solidarity of Fatma simply by taking a photograph of themselves with a “Free Arabicca” sign. “Blog de Z” participated by posting a cartoon declaring: “I’m not Fatma, We are All Fatma.”

The next day, Fatma was at last released – though she may still face charges and up to three years in jail.



Black Ribbon Campaign to Treat Saudi Women as… “Adults”

Women’s rights activists across Saudi Arabia have started wearing black ribbons in the streets and are calling on people around the world to join them in solidarity. The ribbons represent a demand for Saudi women to be treated as “adult citizens” by ending the legal requirement that key aspects of their lives be regulated by male guardians. The campaign’s launch came on the 19th anniversary of a famous protest when 47 women openly drove through Riyadh demanding the right to drive. Many were detained and some even fired from their jobs.

Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a prominent Saudi activist and a leader of the Black Ribbon Campaign, explains: “We want to have back our lives, which the male guardianship system took from us.” A campaign statement calls for women to be given “rights to marry, divorce, inherit, gain custody of children, travel, work, study, drive cars and live on an equal footing with men.”

Despite threats of a crackdown, Al-Huwaider remains optimistic: “Teenagers wear the black ribbon anyway as a fashion. Now they have a reason, so that when someone asks, they will say ‘We are supporting Saudi women…’ I am hoping to get famous people to wear it and a group of us will be walking around throughout the day recruiting women. I'm trying of course to avoid the religious police because they are always around. But we are just asking for our rights.

Quiz: For how long was the Internet in Syria censorship-free last week?
ANSWER: Less than an hour. Last Tuesday, Syrian web users woke up to find that their Internet connection was, shockingly, unfiltered. For the first time since the Internet was opened to Syrians in 1998, any website in the world was accessible. Within a little over half an hour, the technical glitch was fixed and the national firewall was running again. Syria is known as an “Internet black hole” for the pervasive filters that block many popular websites, like Facebook, YouTube, and all blogs on the “blogspot” domain. Currently, three Syrian bloggers are in prison for online activities.

BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here are quick ways to contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement: