Report: Missing Syrian blogger detained for espionage
A missing 19-year-old Syrian blogger, Tal El- Melouhy, is being held in a prison near the capital Damascus on espionage charges, local media outlets reported Tuesday.
El-Melouhy is a detainee at Duma women's prison, some 20 kilometres north-west of the city, according to the dp-news website.
El-Melouhy's family had been unable to confirm her whereabouts since she went missing 10 months ago, but they suspected that she had been detained by Syrian authorities, DPA reported.
At the time of her arrest, El-Melouhy was a student and active blogger, writing articles supporting the Palestinian cause and criticising the French initiative for peace between Israel and Syria.
The government has arrested bloggers before and moved to banned Facebook, Twitter and the video-sharing website YouTube. But Syrian youths have found ways to evade the censors, and easily navigate these websites.
