INTERNET TRIAL REINFORCES ONLINE CHILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000357 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ARP NFRANCESCHI, NEA/PPD AFERNANDEZ, DBENZE DUBAI PLEASE PASS TO MPELLETIER E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2017 TAGS: OIIP KPAO KMDR EINT PHUM MU SUBJECT: INTERNET TRIAL REINFORCES ONLINE CHILL REF: A. 06 MUSCAT 1627 ¶B. 06 MUSCAT 1684 Classified By: Ambassador Gary A. Grappo, reasons 1.4 b and d -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Online discussion in Oman remains muted in the wake of the November 2006 closure of the Sultanate's most popular online forum, "Al-Sablah." In early 2007, the site's founder and nine colleagues were tried on charges including violations of Oman's press and communications laws. Although a March 2007 verdict acquitted the principal defendants (the remainder were subject to fines and, in one case, a brief jail term),the site remains closed and its successors in general studiously avoid possible controversy. END SUMMARY. -------------- THE PROBLEMS OF "A FORUM FOR ANYONE" -------------- ¶2. (U) The term "Al-Sablah" refers to a traditional Omani meeting place used for discussing important social and political issues. Since its founding in 1999, the Al-Sablah site (www.omania.net) reflected that tradition, with lively discussion on a broad range of international and domestic issues. Al-Sablah's influence (and capacity to mobilize participants) was demonstrated in 2003 by an anti-war demonstration in Muscat ) small, but significant given Omani reticence about public expressions of political opinion ) the organization of which the site facilitated. At its height, the site had more than 10,000 registered members and received up to 300,000 hits per day. ¶3. (U) On November 22, 2006, Omani authorities closed "Al-Sablah" (Ref A). Subsequently, site administrator Said Al-Rashdi and nine other participants were briefly detained and scheduled for a January 2007 court appearance. ¶4. (C) In the months preceding the Al-Sablah closure, Omani authorities apparently began tracing the IP addresses of participants through Omantel, the Sultanate's sole Internet Service Provider (ISP). According to Embassy sources, the authorities reportedly confiscated the computers of those whose comments violated Omani norms of self-censorship in regard to discussion of public officials and aspects of Omani domestic policies. ¶5. (U) There was no press reporting on the site's closure. However, a December 20, 2006 editorial in "Al-Watan", the Sultanate's widest-circulating Arabic-language daily (circulation 42,000),laid out some of the official concerns regarding the site's contents in a column that accused the site of being "an electronic hiding place": "Al-Sablah was an important electronic channel for individuals to learn about domestic developments, but it crossed a red line when it started to defame peoples' reputation. It went beyond even that when it initiated discussion about sectarian and minority issues, discussions that are prohibited by religion and law. It also interfered with other countries' internal affairs and defamed their people. This electronic media provided a forum for anyone, even those with no journalistic training, to discuss the lives of others without any moral limits." -------------- DISCUSSION FORUM OR "CRIME SCENE"? -------------- ¶6. (U) Al-Rashdi and the other Al Sablah defendants first appeared in court on Sunday, January 28, 2007, when, according to youth-oriented daily "Al-Shabiba" (circulation 20,000) - the only paper to report on the trial - the hearings were postponed until mid-February. "Al-Shabiba" reported that "among the charges brought against Al-Sablah's administrator are violating the law of printing and publishing, while others who had posted comments on the site are accused of violating the Omani penal code and the communications law. The public prosecutor has called for closing Al-Sablah once and for all, labeling it 'a crime scene.'" ¶7. (SBU) On March 25, 2007, after at least three additional trial sessions that were not reported, the public prosecutor announced a verdict: not guilty for Al-Rashdi and two other defendants; fines between 300 and 1,500 Omani Rials (between approximately $800 and $3,900) for six others; and a fine of MUSCAT 00000357 002 OF 002 4,000 Omani Rials (approximately $10,400) and one month's imprisonment for the remaining defendant (this proportionally harsh judgment was apparently reserved for the defendant who had made personal attacks on at least one senior official). -------------- REACTION TO TRIAL -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The original Al-Sablah site remains closed, with the site carrying only a graphic praising Sultan Qaboos and a message from al-Rashdi confirming that he was found innocent and thanking supporters for standing with him in his work. Several alternative sites have sprung up in reaction to the Al-Sablah closure (Ref B),including "Al-Sablah 2" at www.omania2.net. Many of these sites carry messages to the effect that Omanis are capable of creating numerous other Al-Sablahs for each one the government closes. Beyond expressing solidarity with Al-Rashdi and the other Al-Sablah participants on trial, however, there has not been significant online discussion of the trial and its outcome, and with the exception of the two articles in "Al-Shabiba", nothing in the press. ¶9. (U) On April 11, "Al-Shabiba" interviewed Said Al-Rashdi, front-paging the story under the headline "The Return of Al-Sablah or its Permanent Closure...A Matter of Time!" Al-Rashdi both affirmed his belief that the site served a useful purpose in expanding the boundaries of Omani free expression and distanced himself from its more controversial content, saying it had "gone beyond the limits". He expressed satisfaction with the judicial process and his own verdict, refraining from comment on the others. He characterized the site's future as a "personal decision" for him to make, and said that if it were to return, it would only be with significantly greater supervision and monitoring. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) The Al-Sablah trial and the mixed signals sent by its verdict have done nothing to alleviate the chill in Oman's climate for public discourse first reported at the time of the site's shutdown. Al-Rashdi's comments confirm consistent local speculation that should Al-Sablah return, it would require yet further self-censorship by participants to avoid content offensive to local sensitivities and would be subject to even heavier-handed monitoring and editing. In the short term at least, neither Al-Sablah (should it reappear) nor Oman's other fledgling fora are likely to permit discussion as free and relatively uninhibited as was the case before the trial. Were Post to search for a bright spot, however limited, in the situation, it would be that at least one Arabic-language paper has reported, albeit cautiously, on both the trial and verdict, and that much of that reporting was carried out by a 2006 Edward R. Murrow Fellow. END COMMENT. GRAPPO