Muscat: Omani blogger, Saeed Jadad, has been released without charge after being detained for a week.
“I was detained for a week,” Jadad, who is from Oman’s southern region of Salalah, told Gulf News over the phone.
Asked where he was kept, the blogger and human rights activist said he was unaware of the location. “I was locked up in a room and didn’t know the difference between day and night,” he said.
Talking about interrogation during his detention he said he was asked about writing on his blog and Facebook. “They even asked me if I was in touch with international human rights organisations,” he revealed.
He said that while he was in detention his son, Emmad, was also detained for a few hours.
“I am thankful to Shaikh Salim Bin Mustahil Al Mashani for securing my son’s release and also for his efforts in my release,” he said.
“There are no charges against me this time but I have been warned that if I write anything against the government or country, I will be prosecuted and could face a long prison term,” he said.
He also thanked various organisations in Oman as well as some human rights organisations abroad for taking up his cause.
The crackdown against activists and bloggers started at the end of May in 2012 when former volleyball player Habiba Al Hinai, Sohar-based activist Esmail Al Muqbali and Yaqoub Al Kharusi were detained in Fahoud when they went to express solidarity with striking oilfield workers.
Subsequently, the authorities arrested various bloggers and activists. Forty three people have been tried so far for violating the country’s cyber laws, insulting Oman’s Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed and or for wrongful gathering at public places.
