Malaysia arrests Saudi blogger for Prophet tweets
Source: Agencies |
February 11, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MALAYSIAN police have arrested a Saudi Arabian columnist who fled his country after making comments on Twitter deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammad, prompting a surge of online outrage and calls for his execution.
"It is confirmed that Malaysian police have detained the Saudi writer. This arrest was part of an Interpol operation which the Malaysian police were a part of," a police spokesman said yesterday.
He gave no further details and would not comment on whether the writer, Hamza Kashgari, would be extradited to Saudi Arabia, where some Islamic clerics have called for him to be put to death.
Blasphemy is a crime punishable by execution under oil-rich Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.
The 23-year-old Kashgari reportedly posted the comments on his Twitter feed to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday last Saturday, drawing thousands of outraged comments on Twitter and other social networking sites. Kashgari later said he was being made a "scapegoat for a larger conflict" over his comments.
"It is confirmed that Malaysian police have detained the Saudi writer. This arrest was part of an Interpol operation which the Malaysian police were a part of," a police spokesman said yesterday.
He gave no further details and would not comment on whether the writer, Hamza Kashgari, would be extradited to Saudi Arabia, where some Islamic clerics have called for him to be put to death.
Blasphemy is a crime punishable by execution under oil-rich Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.
The 23-year-old Kashgari reportedly posted the comments on his Twitter feed to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday last Saturday, drawing thousands of outraged comments on Twitter and other social networking sites. Kashgari later said he was being made a "scapegoat for a larger conflict" over his comments.
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