3 February 2006

Alert

Cyber-dissident still in prison despite release announcement


Incident details

Kamal Sayid Qadir, Kamal Karim

web dissident(s)

imprisoned

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(RSF/IFEX) - Austrian national Kamal Sayid Qadir, jailed for 30 years in early January 2006 for posting "defamatory" articles online, is still behind bars despite an announcement more than a week ago by representatives of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan government that his release was imminent.

Reporters Without Borders called on the Austrian authorities to maintain efforts to obtain a quick release for the cyber-dissident. "We must continue to campaign for Kamal Sayid Qadir and his family", the organisation said.

The Associated Press news agency reported a statement from Austrian Foreign Minister, Ursula Plassnik, on 26 January 2006 that he had been freed the previous day. This report turned out to be incorrect.



Source:

Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
 

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More on this case

Cyber-dissident Kamal Sayid Qadir released 4 April 2006 Kurdish-born Austrian cyber-dissident jailed for 18 months for online "defamation" 27 March 2006 RSF calls for release of imprisoned cyber-dissident Kamal Sayid Qadir, subject to torture and death threats 3 March 2006 Writer Kamal Sayid Qadir transferred to a prison hospital; serious health concerns 22 February 2006 CPJ protests 30-year jail term for Kurdish writer on defamation conviction 12 January 2006 Kurdish regional government says 30-year sentence was imposed for defaming public institutions 11 January 2006 Thirty-year prison sentence for criticising Kurdish regional president in Internet articles 5 January 2006 Writer detained for articles critical of Kurdish authorities 14 December 2005

Iraq

Journalist protection law falls short, should be repealed, says CPJ 25 January 2012 Journalist illegally detained, while another is attacked 23 January 2012 News media torched, journalists attacked and arrested in outbreak of violence 5 December 2011 New wave of abuses and intimidation against the media 31 October 2011 Series of new attacks and acts of intimidation against journalists 21 October 2011 See all alerts: Iraq


 
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