UAE: Female Twitter User Rowda Hamed Summoned for Interrogation  · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

Twitter avatar of UAE female twitter user Rowda Hamed
On Wednesday morning, a female Twitter user from the United Arab Emirates called Rowda Hamed (@Rowda_Hamed) tweeted saying that she has been summoned for interrogation. She is one of the few Twitter users from the UAE supporting the five detained activists who recently went on hunger strike, which she joined in to show support, according to her older tweets. Blogger Khalifa Al-Nuaimi (@Alnuaimi_k) started the hashtag #RowdaHamed to support her and spread her case through Twitter. Many tweeps, especially from outside the UAE, have tweeted to show solidarity. Rowda wrote explaining how the summoning came [Ar]:
Saudi female blogger Nouf Abdullaziz (@nofah1) wrote one of the early reactions to Rowda's ordeal:
From the UAE, Ibrahim Alharam (@IbrahimAlharam) condemned such action against activists:
Rashid Al-kaabi (@rashid580) wrote in criticism of Gulf leaders:
Qatari lawyer Ahmad Alkhanji (@aalkhanji) has also criticized the Emirati authorities on this:
Active Saudi Twitter user (@SAUDI_LIBER) referred to the case of Rowda as an example of what Gulf rulers do:
Abdullah Al-Balasi (@3bdlla) draws a comparison between his country, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE:
An Emirati engineer called Tariq Alhammadi (@Tariq_Alhammadi) asked a logical question:
Emirati Sami (@bnt3bdallah) wrote to clarify and admit:
@bnt3bdallah: I don't believe that the UAE is at this level of oppression.. BUT I don't think its fair that we r n the dark about the 5 convicts.
Another Twitter user (@dankendonuts) from the UAE wrote in optimism:
Several Twitter users from the UAE with anonymous identities were bashing Rowda and the five detained activists too. This one for example, which uses the same conspiracy theory popular in the region now, which is to claim that anyone who opposes the regime is an Iranian:
This one, on the other hand, brought the common Emirati charge which puts any one from the opposition as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood group: