Razan Ghazzawi

Razan Ghazzawi, a 31-year-old Syrian blogger, was arrested and charged with “trying to incite sectarian strife” earlier this week, which could result in a 15-year prison sentence for the U.S.-born writer. The irony is that she was arrested en route to Jordan in order to participate in a panel on Media Freedom in the Arab World.

Ghazzawi is employed as a media officer at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, which is now rallying to reduce the sentence. She is a tireless political advocate and actively worked to free dissidents from Syrian jails; we suggest you check out her blog if you aren’t already familiar with her work, or view her Arab Spring Flickr page here.

The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression recently released a statement saying:

“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of our colleague Razan Ghazzawi as well as an end to her trial and the annulment of the completely baseless charges against her.”

We hope that she remains safe wherever she is being held, and our hearts go out to her friends and family.