Plight of jailed blogger exaggerated by media

According to the kingdom’s Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed, the media "exaggerated" the plight of jailed Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan, who was released on Saturday after spending four months in a Jeddah prison, despite having no charges pressed against him.

Before his December 10 arrest, Al-Farhan wrote to friends saying he expected to be detained for his writings about a group of reformists arrested in February 2007 for alleged links to terror funding. Al-Farhan had also criticised a number of influential Saudi figures as well as religious extremism in the kingdom.

However Price Ahmed said Al-Farhan had been arrested for mistakes he had committed, according to a report from Saudi Press Agency.

“The issue [of Al-Farhan] was not that important as it represented the mistake committed by a person on himself. A man who commits a mistake should bear its result,” the agency quoted Prince Ahmed.

Prince Ahmed did not confirm whether Al-Farhan had been released after his arrest four months ago.