BEIRUT:
Syrian authorities have released a U.S.-born blogger and press freedom
campaigner who was arrested at the border while on her way to attend a
conference in Jordan.
Razan
Ghazzawi was detained on Dec. 4 and charged last week with fomenting sectarian
strife, spreading false information through a secret organization and weakening
National Sentiment – charges punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The
Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, where she worked, said
Monday that Ghazzawi had been freed Sunday night on bail.
It
added that Ghazzawi would still stand trial at a later, unspecified date.
Ghazzawi,
a U.S. citizen who was raised in Saudi Arabia and Damascus, blogs about human
rights and Syrian affairs in English and was one of the few activists to blog
under her real name.
Her
arrest prompted a massive online campaign by activists demanding her release
and the release of dozens of Syrian bloggers and activists who have been
arrested in during the nine-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar
Assad.
Tweeting
from her post @RedRazan Monday, Ghazzawi confirmed her release but called for
the release of other still held in Syrian prisons.
“[Razan] is home,but
Nawal,Rime,Tal,Manal & Hadiyyah remain in jail.Free #Syria detainees &
prisoners of conscience!Thank u all 4 ur amazing support.,” she wrote.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Dec-20/157371-syrian-authorities-free-blogger-arrested-on-jordan-border.ashx#axzz1h5CCTTLC
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