SHORT INFO
Name: Tariq Gorani
Nationality: Syria
Arrested: since 19 Feb 06
Blog: Syrian Domari (unavailable)
Campaign: تضامنا مع معتقلي النشاط الشبابي الديمقراطي – السوري
Global Voices Advocacy: Syrian bloggers campaign…
BIOGRAPHY
Tariq Gorani is a 1985-born Syrian blogger and civil rights activist. On his blog “Syrian Domari”, named after an independent Syrian newspaper which was famous for investigating and addressing the authorities’ corruption before it was shut down after a few months, he wrote about political subjects ((Decentering Damascus » Syrian Bloggers Campaign to Free Fellow Blogger Tariq Biasi)). In early 2006, the Syrian Domari was the first ever blog to be blocked by the Syrian authorities ((The Damascene Blog » First report of blog censorship in Syria)), only two month after its founding in November, 2005.
Gorani was one of the founding members of a “Democratic Syrian Youth Activity”. Together with six other members, Gorani got arrested on February 19, 2006. From then on, the activists were held in custody for one year and four months until they were finally charged with sentences between five and seven years for “endangering the security of Syria” on June 17, 2007. Gorani got sentenced to seven years in prison due to his online-organized activism ((Decentering Damascus » Syrian Bloggers Campaign to Free Fellow Blogger Tariq Biasi)). Meanwhile, his blog got hacked and all contents were deleted by the attacker.
