Dissident Watch: Tariq Biasi
by Gideon Spitzer
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2009, p. 96
http://www.meforum.org/2098/dissident-watch-tariq-biasi
On June 7, 2007, Syrian military intelligence arrested
blogger Tariq Biasi on charges of "undermining national sentiment" and
"publishing false information."[1]
Biasi, a 23-year-old computer technician from Banyas, Syria, who suffers
from liver disease, is just the most recent in a slew of arrests targeting
Syrian bloggers.
Tariq
Biasi |
Reporters Without Borders reports that Biasi was accused of
blogging against the government on a computer shared by six other people
including an Internet café.[2] After
his arrest and questioning by Syrian military intelligence, Biasi was held
incommunicado at the Palestine Security Branch in Damascus;[3] Syrian authorities did not lodge
official charges against him for more than six months.[4] Biasi's blog comments reportedly criticized Syrian
military intelligence for focusing on civilians instead of foreign
military targets.[5] On May 11, 2008,
the Syrian security court in Damascus sentenced Biasi to three years in
prison after reducing his sentence from six years.[6] Members of Biasi's family are no strangers to
detention by the Syrian government: The regime imprisoned his father for
twenty years after he was accused of membership in the Muslim Brotherhood,
an accusation vehemently denied by bloggers familiar with the case.[7]
Over the last several years, the Syrian government has
required Internet café operators to report on the sites visited by their
customers. Furthermore, website owners have been forced under threat of
punishment to reveal the names of their written contributors, thus
removing the ability of bloggers to anonymously express their opinions.[8]
Another Syrian blogger, Ahed al-Hindi, 23, was imprisoned in
December 2006 after the owner of an Internet café filmed Hindi posting
"illegal" comments about the government. He spent a month in prison for
his online comments and subsequently left Syria for Lebanon.[9] Hindi calls blogging in Syria a "dangerous activity" and states that at least eight Syrian dissident
bloggers were arrested in Syria in the past year. The Syrian government
claims it is acting to protect national security against a spam campaign
started by "Israelis who infiltrated the Syrian Internet community."[10]
As a result of Biasi's arrest and sentencing, his freedom
has become something of a rallying cry for Syrian dissidents, both in
Syria and abroad. Many websites have sprung up on the Internet to support
Biasi, including one operated by a group of five Syrian bloggers (freetariq.org). In addition, these bloggers have set up a Facebook group (officially banned in Syria)
and a global petition on Biasi's behalf.
Gideon Spitzer is a former intern at the Middle
East Quarterly and a history and political science major at the
University of Pennsylvania.
[1] Al-Jazeera.net, Mar. 11, 2008.
[2] Reporters Without Borders, news release, Feb. 25,
2008.
[3] Human Rights Watch, news release, Oct. 8, 2007.
[4] Ahlan Wa Sahlan, Life after Syria Blog, Feb. 5, 2008; "Free Syrian Blogger Tariq Biassi," Gopetition.com, Jan. 20, 2008
[5] Muslim.net, June 30, 2008.
[6] MideastYouth.com, May 14, 2008.
[7] MideastYouth.com, Jan. 9, 2008; National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, news
release, Jan. 19, 2008.
[8] Human Rights Watch, news release, Oct. 8, 2007; Reporters Without Borders, news release, Feb. 25,
2008.
[9] The Globe and Mail (London), Nov. 23, 2007.
[10] Arab Press Network, Mar. 12, 2008.
Related Topics: Syria
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