By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Malaysian police have arrested a Saudi blogger who was fleeing Saudi Arabia following calls for his execution, stemming from comments made on Twitter thought to be insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.

 

Hamza Kashgari was hoping to gain political asylum in New Zealand when he was intercepted upon his arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

A spokesperson for the Malaysian police confirmed that they had detained the 23-year old blogger.

“This arrest was part of an Interpol operation which the Malaysian police were a part of,” the spokesperson said.

No details were announced on whether Kashgari would be extradited to Saudi Arabia.  Even though the two countries do not have an explicit extradition treaty, Kashgari could still be extradited under other bilateral security agreements between the States.

Clerics and locals in Saudi Arabia have called for Kashgari’s execution based upon three comments he made on Twitter on the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday.

The tweets depicted a fictitious conversation between Kashgari and the Prophet.

“On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more,” one tweet read.

Kashgari later deleted the tweets after he received over 30,000 responses within a day of posting.  The online reaction to the tweets included a series of tweets with the hashtag #HazmaKashgari, YouTube videos (one of which including his home address), and a Facebook group with over 12,000 members entitled “The Saudi People Demand the Execution of Hazma Kashgari.”

Some in Saudi Arabia feel that Kashgari has been made a scapegoat for a larger conflict between the ultraconservatives and liberals in the majority Muslim nation.

The incident once again highlights the impact of Twitter and related social networking sites in the Middle East.  The free forums allow for debate and discussion, but it can also lead to scandal.

Saudi Arabia does not have a written set of criminal laws, however blasphemy has been recognized as a crime punishable by execution under Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.

Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations are calling on Malaysia not to send Kashgari back to Saudi Arabia.

“If Kashgari is not presumed innocent, he can hardly expect a fair trial if returned to Saudi Arabia,” said Christopher Wilcke, a senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Malaysia should save him from any travesties of justice and allow him to seek safety in a country of his choice.”

Due to its role in Kashgari’s arrest, Interpol has been accused of abusing its powers.

“If an Interpol red notice is the reason for his arrest and detention it would be a serious abuse of this powerful international body that is supposed to respect basic human rights (including to peaceful free speech) and to be barred from any involvement in religious or political cases,” said Jago Russell, the chief executive of the British charity Fair Trials International.

He went on to call on Interpol to uphold its obligations to fundamental human rights and to stay out of this case “which is clearly of a religious nature.”

Interpol, which has 190 member countries, has a series of colored notice systems that police forces around the world use to pass on requests for help.

Last year Interpol was accused by Fair Trials International of allowing the system to be abused for political purposes when it issued a red notice for the arrest of the Oxford-based leader of an Asian separatist movement, Benny Wenda, who has been granted asylum and has lived in the UK since 2003.

Interpol has not commented on the arrest of Kashgari.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Malaysia arrests Saudi blogger over tweets — 10 Feb. 2012

Guardian — Interpol accused after journalist arrested over Muhammed tweet — 10 Feb. 2012

HRW — Malaysia Don’t Send Saudi Back — 10 Feb. 2012

New York Times — Malaysia Detains Saudi Over Twitter Posts on Prophet — 10 Feb. 2012

Washington Post — Saudi blogger’s tweets about prophet Muhammad stir Islamists to call for his execution — 09 Feb. 2012