Saudi Arabia: Free Saudi Scholar Dr Mohammed Alabdulkareem  · Global Voices
Haifa Alrasheed

Dr Mohammed Alabdulkareem. Image from his Facebook fan page
Saudi Dr Mohammed Alabdulkareem was arrested after publishing an article on the effectiveness of the political regulation among the royal family [Ar]. The scholar holds a PhD degree in Islamic Regulations, and teaches at Al-Imam Muhammed ibn Saud Islamic University. And the article was not his first, as he had written several others discussing political issues within the Saudi community.
The Arrest
According to Dr Alabdulkareem's Facebook fan page, he had expressed his expectations to be arrested to his friend Abdullah Almalki, after publishing the article and prior to his arrest.
Reporters Without Borders notes that Dr Alabdulkareem was arrested at his home by four men with no warrant on  December 5, 12 days after posting the article.
Free Dr Alabdulkareem
As a reaction to the arrest, social media was filled with calls to release the scholar. Two fan pages was created in response to the arrest on Facebook. They are: “Free Dr.Alabdulkarim” and “We are all Mohammed Abdulkarim.” Moreover, on Twitter the hashtag #FreeDrAbdulkarim was used to call for his release. Many blog entries were also written with calls for his release. Below are some of the reactions.
The blogger Talaf poses questions about his country:
From Twitter, Abdulrahman Alnasri, is willing to be arrested for standing up for his country too:
From the scholar's fan page, Khaled Alhojoori comments:
Finally, Nofah wondered about Dr. Alabulkareem's fate, and whether he will spend the rest of his life in jail, like many other political prisoners: