List of people imprisoned for editing Wikipedia explained

Many Wikipedia editors have been imprisoned by their governments for contributing to the free-content online encyclopedia.

By country

Belarus

Mark Bernstein (Russian: Марк Израйлевич Бернштейн|links=no), a Belarusian editor of the Russian Wikipedia, was detained on 11 March 2022 for violating the Russian 2022 war censorship laws by editing Wikipedia articles about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and sentenced to 15 days detention and three years of restricted freedom.[1] [2] [3]

Pavel Pernikaŭ (Belarusian: Павел Аляксандравіч Пернікаў|links=no),[4] a Belarusian editor of the Belarusian Wikipedia, was sentenced on 7 April 2022 to two years in a penal colony for online postings "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" including two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus.[5] [6] [7]

Saudi Arabia

Osama Khalid (Arabic: أسامة خالد|links=no), a former Saudi Arabian administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 2020 for "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country."[8] Khalid's sentence was increased to 32 years in September 2022 as part of a campaign to lengthen the sentences of political detainees, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now and SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization.[9]

Ziyad al-Sofiani (Arabic: زياد السفياني|links=no), also a former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was likewise charged with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." He was sentenced in September 2020 to eight years in prison.

Syria

Bassel Khartabil (Arabic: باسل خرطبيل) was a contributor to a number of open-source projects including Wikipedia; his arrest in 2012 was likely connected to his online activity. He was executed at Adra Prison near Damascus in 2015.[10] Several organizations, including the Wikimedia Foundation, established the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship in his honor in 2017, for an initial period of three years.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Belarusian Blogger Handed Parole-Like Sentence . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2022-06-24. 2022-06-25. https://archive.today/20220625211756/https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-blogger-wikipedia-bernshteyn-sentence/31913727.html. live . en.
  2. News: Song . Victoria . A top Wikipedia editor has been arrested in Belarus . 2022-03-11 . . 2022-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220311225449/https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/11/22973293/wikipedia-editor-russia-belarus-ukraine . 2022-03-11 . live . en.
  3. News: ru . В Беларуси задержали Марка Бернштейна — активиста и популяризатора интернет-энциклопедии Wikipedia.org . Mark Bernstein – an activist and populariser of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia – was detained in Belarus . 2022-03-11 . . 2022-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220311151744/https://news.zerkalo.io/life/11113.html . 2022-03-11 . live.
  4. also spelt Pavel Pernikov when transliterated from Russian: Павел Перников|links=no
  5. News: 2022-04-07 . В Беларуси редактора "Википедии" приговорили к 2 годам колонии по статье о "дискредитации" страны . In Belarus, the editor of "Wikipedia" was sentenced to 2 years in prison under an article about "discrediting" the country . 2022-04-20 . . ru . 2022-06-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601165401/https://www.currenttime.tv/a/belarus-redaktora-vikipedii-prigovor-diskreditatsiya-strany/31791261.html . live .
  6. News: 2022-04-07 . В Беларуси редактора "Википедии" приговорили к 2 годам колонии за правки в статьях о протестах . Wikipedia editor sentenced to 2 years in prison in Belarus for editing articles about protests . 2022-04-20 . Esquire (Russian edition) . ru . 2023-01-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230116061712/https://esquire.ru/news/politics-news/07-04-2022/673622-v-belarusi-redaktora-vikipedii-prigovorili-k-2-goda-kolonii-za-pravki-v-statyah-o-protestah/ . live .
  7. News: 2022-04-07 . Редактора Википедии из Бреста приговорили к двум годам колонии за правки к статьям, "дискредитирующие Белоруссию" . Wikipedia editor from Brest sentenced to two years in prison for editing articles “discrediting Belarus” . 2022-04-20 . . ru . 2022-07-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220717083419/https://www.fontanka.ru/2022/04/07/71239691/ . live .
  8. News: Belanger . Ashley . 2023-01-06 . Wikipedia admin jailed for 32 years after alleged Saudi spy infiltration . 2023-01-16 . . en-us . 2023-01-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119203556/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/01/wikipedia-admin-jailed-for-32-years-after-alleged-saudi-spy-infiltration/ . live .
  9. News: 2023-01-05 . Saudi Arabia 'infiltrated' Wikipedia to control content, activists say . 2023-01-16 . . en . 2023-01-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230127143603/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/investigation-concludes-saudi-arabia-infiltrated-wikipedia-agents-to-control-content . live .
  10. News: 2017-08-02 . Bassel Khartabil: Syrian internet freedom activist 'executed' . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-03-15 . 2023-03-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230315024202/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40795739 . live .
  11. Web site: Maher . Katherine . Merkley . Ryan . Surman . Mark . 2017-08-11 . Honoring our friend Bassel: Announcing the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship . 2023-03-15 . Diff . en-US . 2023-02-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230203232745/https://diff.wikimedia.org/2017/08/11/bassel-khartabil-free-culture-fellowship/ . live .

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