Bassel Khartabil: fears for man who brought open internet to the Arab world

The developer's imprisonment is a sign that technologists are being targeted along with journalists and human rights lawyers

Syria never had a hackerspace until Bassel Khartabil - known online as Bassel Sudafi - started Aiki Lab in Damascus in 2010. The Palestinian-Syrian open-source software developer used it as a base from which to advanced the free software and free culture movements in his country. Because of Khartabil's work, people gained new tools to express themselves and communicate.

Writing to the vice president of the European commission in 2013, MEPs Charles Tannock and Ana Gomes summed up Khartabil's contributions as "opening up the internet in Syria - a country with a notorious record of online censorship" and "vastly extending online access and knowledge to the Syrian people". Among his awards included the 2013 Index on Censorship Digital Freedom Award for using technology to promote an open and free internet.