Saudi repression

This is a small item in the Washington Post:  "Saudi court sentences man to 10 years over Twitter messages: A Saudi court sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and a $26,700 fine for joining protests against the kingdom’s rulers and using Twitter to urge people to do the same, the official Saudi Press Agency said. The agency quoted Justice Ministry spokesman Fahd al-Bakran as saying that the unidentified defendant had also retweeted messages against the monarchy, Muslim scholars and the security services. He was “convicted of entering an Internet site hostile to the state that encourages fighting and promotes deviant thought,” Bakran said, referring to al-Qaeda ideology. The man was convicted under laws that criminalize Internet abuse."