Bassel Khartabil: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''Bassel Khartabil''' ({{lang-ar|باسل خرطبيل}}), also known as '''Bassel Safadi''' ({{lang-ar|باسل صفدي}}),&nbsp;(22 May 1981, [[Damascus]] – 3 October 2015) was a Palestinian Syrian [[open-source model|open-source]] [[software developer]]. On 15 March 2012, the one-year anniversary of the [[Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War|Syrian uprising]], he was detained by the Syrian government at [[Adra Prison]] in [[Damascus]].<ref>{{cite news|title=#FREEBASSEL: a campaign to free Bassel Khartabil from Syrian jail|url=http://www.albawaba.com/blog_roundup/freebassel-kharatable-syria-432588|accessdate=5 July 2012|newspaper=Al Bawaba|date=4 July 2012}}</ref> Between then and 3 October 2015, he had been transferred to an unknown location, probably to be judged by a military court.<ref name="transfer">{{cite web|url=http://mediaoriente.com/2015/10/03/we-need-everybodys-help-to-freebassel/|title=WE NEED EVERYBODY'S HELP TO #FREEBASSEL|date=3 October 2015 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003190157/http://mediaoriente.com/2015/10/03/we-need-everybodys-help-to-freebassel/|archivedate=3 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="transfergv">{{cite web|url=https://globalvoices.org/2015/10/03/free-bassel-fears-for-imprisoned-syrian-palestinian-blogger-bassel-khartabil-after-he-was-moved-to-an-unknown-location/|title=Fears for Imprisoned Syrian Blogger Bassel Khartabil, Transferred to an Unknown Location|date=3 October 2015|publisher=Global Voices|author=Amira Al Hussaini}}</ref> On 7 October 2015, [[Human Rights Watch]] and 30 other human rights organizations issued a letter demanding that Khartabil's whereabouts be disclosed.<ref name="hrwdisclose">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/07/syria-disclose-whereabouts-detained-freedom-expression-advocate|title=Syria: Disclose Whereabouts of Detained Freedom of Expression Advocate|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=7 October 2015}}</ref> On 11 November 2015, rumors surfaced that Khartabil had been secretly sentenced to death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = IGF 2015 Flyer on Bassel Khartabil|url = https://www.eff.org/document/igf-2015-flyer-bassel-khartabil|website = Electronic Frontier Foundation|publisher = eff.org |accessdate =15 November 2015|date = 2015-11-12}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title = #FreeBassel: Death Sentence Rumored for Syrian Web Developer|url = https://globalvoices.org/2015/11/13/freebassel-death-sentence-rumored-for-syrian-web-developer/|website = Global Voices|accessdate =15 November 2015|date = 2015-11-13}}</ref> In August 2017, his wife made public<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/nouranoura81/posts/1405322339548963|title=Noura Ghazi Safadi|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|accessdate=13 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/ap-ml-syria-software-pioneer-executed-.html|title=Widow Confirms Open Software Pioneer Was Executed in Syria|last=The Associated Press|date=2 August 2017|work=The New York Times|accessdate=13 August 2017 |language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> that Khartabil had been executed by the Syrian regimegovernment shortly after his disappearance in 2015.<ref name="JWF-2017-08">{{cite web|title=Horrific: Reports that Bassel Khartabil Has Been Executed in Syria|url=http://jimmywalesfoundation.org/horrific-reports-that-bassel-khartabil-has-been-executed-in-syria/|website=Jimmy Wales Foundation|accessdate=1 August 2017|date=1 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="The Independent 2017">{{cite web | title=One of Syria's most famous activists has been executed in prison, widow confirms | website=The Independent | date=2 August 2017 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bassel-khartabil-safadi-executed-syria-activist-dead-prison-widow-confirms-democracy-adra-damascus-a7872771.html | accessdate=2 August 2017}}</ref>

Khartabil was born in Damascus and raised in Syria, where he specialized in open source software development. He was [[chief technology officer]] (CTO) and co-founder of collaborative research company Aiki Lab<ref>{{cite web |url= http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Aiki_lab |title=Aiki lab|publisher=}}</ref> and was CTO of Al-Aous,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-aous.com/|title=الأوس للنشر|author=الأوس للنشر|publisher=|access-date=4 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117003042/http://www.al-aous.com/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> a publishing and research institution dedicated to archaeological sciences and arts in Syria. He has served as project lead and public affiliate for [[Creative Commons]] Syria,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Syria|title=Syria|publisher=}}</ref> and has contributed to [[Mozilla]] [[Firefox]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Openclipart]], [[Fabricatorz]], and [[Sharism]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Threatened Voices / Bloggers / Bassel (Safadi) Khartabil|url=http://threatened.globalvoicesonline.org/blogger/bassel-safadi-khartabil}}</ref> He "is credited with opening up the Internet in Syria and vastly extending online access and knowledge to the Syrian people."<ref>{{cite news| title= Request for Written Answer on the Question of the Imprisonment of Bassel Safadi Khartabil|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+WQ+E-2013-014046+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN|accessdate=9 April 2014 |publisher=European Parliament |date=18 March 2014}}</ref>