Bloggers who made extreme sacrifices

Posted on 06. Jan, 2008 by kchristieh in inspirational people, international, politics

There are few things I cherish more than my freedom. I’m free to go where I want, wear what I want, do what I want and say what I want. I try never to take it for granted.

One of the results of being free to express ourselves is that we’re able to share information, and I believe that usually we all grow by learning more about others and the truth about what’s happening.

Blogging is the perfect medium for communicating the truth freely. It’s tragic, then, when blogs are cut short by violence or by those who don’t appreciate truth.

Andrew Olmsted also believed in blogging. He’d always had an interest in politics, so when this 38-year-old soldier was stationed in Iraq, it was only natural that he’d turn to blogging to share the magnitude of what he saw. When the military asked him to tone it down last spring, he complied and started writing for the Rocky Mountain News. Unfortunately, Andrew was the first American casualty of the war for 2008. Always prepared, he’d pre-written a final post to go up after his death. In it, he asks people not to cry. It’s hard not to.

Fouad al-Farhan is one of the rare Saudi bloggers who dares to use his real name. His writings about political prisoners angered the Saudi government, which arrested him nearly a month ago. According to the Washington Post,

Farhan, who was educated in the United States and owns a computer programming company, was arrested at his office in Jiddah and then brought home, where his laptop was confiscated, said his wife, who spoke on condition that her name not be published to protect her privacy. “They arrested him because of his blog. I haven’t seen him since. We don’t know where he is,” she said.

Not surprisingly, a 2006 Washington Post article about Fouad said that he craved the freedom he tasted in his time in the U.S., and found it hard to find in Saudia Arabia except through blogging.
The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists is urging the Saudi government to release Fouad. The Saudis, who speak of reforms and open expression, still haven’t said why they’re holding Fouad, who is the first blogger they’ve arrested. Unfortunately, other countries are arresting bloggers also: two Egyptian bloggers and one Tunisian blogger are also behind bars.

For all our faults, at least our country truly believes in freedom of the press. And hopefully, we ultimately become better for it.

I totally admire the courage of Andrew, Fouad, and others like them who make sacrifices so that others may be free and learn.

Thanks for sharing Andrew’s story, MotherPie.