+1 Ali,<br><br>As for Mr. Alai - if there are charges against him, then there is probably also evidence against him as well. Let the courts settle the matter and decide whether or not he has broken laws or infringed anyone&#39;s rights. Two weeks ago I was the victim of vicious abuse from him on twitter when I asked him a question about why he was mobilizing people to return their sim cards to Safaricom. He might have a right to express himself, but not at the expense of others&#39; rights.<br>
<br>Mblayo<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 8:27 AM, Ali Hussein <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a href="mailto:ali@hussein.me.ke" target="_blank">ali@hussein.me.ke</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<font face="georgia,serif">Listers</font><div><font face="georgia,serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia,serif">Voltaire, the Famour French Historian and Philosopher once said </font></div><div><font face="georgia,serif"><br>

</font></div><div><span style="line-height:26px;font-size:20px"><font style="text-decoration:none" face="georgia, serif">&quot;<a title="view quote" href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/voltaire109645.html" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank">I do not agree with what you have to say, but I&#39;ll defend to the death your right to say it.</a>&quot;</font></span></div>

<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">I am writing this post due to the interesting times that we live in.  There is a lot of emotions, bigotry, outright tribalism and jingoism being bandied around the country in many channels - Online responses to media stories, FM Station talk shows, social media, work places, bars etc. Whilst I abore the very nature of some of the discussions we have fought too hard for freedom of expression and association to blanketly condemn everything whole sale. </span></div>

<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">I have just read a story in today&#39;s nation titled <b>&#39;14 Bloggers linked to hate messages&#39;</b>. </font></div><div>

<font face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif"><a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/News/14-bloggers-linked-to-hate-messages/-/1056/1732288/-/cut5kvz/-/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.nation.co.ke/News/14-bloggers-linked-to-hate-messages/-/1056/1732288/-/cut5kvz/-/index.html</a></font></div>

<div><font face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">The gist of the story is that the bloggers are using the anonymity of the internet to spread hate, tribalism etc.and they are being &#39;hunted down&#39; like rabid dogs.  What  I found interesting is this particular paragraph:-</font></div>

<div><font face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><span style="line-height:21.625px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:14px"><b><font face="georgia, serif">Mr Robert Alai, a well-known blogger was on Tuesday charged with posting “annoying” statements on social media sites, Twitter and Facebook.</font></b></span></div>

<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">For those of us who follow Robert on Social Media you may be forgiven if you think he is the &#39;Village Mad Man&#39;. However he is a Kenyan and has a right to free speech. I do not excuse some of the stuff being posted online but I sincerely do hope that when one is being charged at our law courts the charge sheet does not say that he or she is charged in court for posting &#39;Annoying Statements&#39;!!</span></div>

<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">A few months ago Eric Hershman (<a href="http://whiteafrican.com" target="_blank">whiteafrican.com</a>) posted a blog defending Robert&#39;s right to his unique brand of &#39;journalism&#39; and I am one of those who commented on the blog saying that one needs to take responsibility for his actions. </span></div>

<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><font face="georgia, serif"><a href="http://whiteafrican.com/2012/08/22/kenyas-slippery-censorship-slope/" target="_blank">http://whiteafrican.com/2012/08/22/kenyas-slippery-censorship-slope/</a></font></div>

<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Now I see where Eric was going... Oh the power of Retrospection.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br>

</span></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">I urge the Powers That Be to delicately balance and be circumspect on how they use the tools of state lest we run rough shod on the very freedoms that allow us to freely comment, post online our opinions. As Voltaire said - I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.</font></div>

<div><br></div><div><font face="georgia, serif"><span style="font-size:14px;line-height:21.625px">Let us all take a step back and ensure that we do not fall victim to the tyranny of the few who have decided to interpret for us what is good or bad for our beloved nation.</span></font></div>

<div><font color="#333333" face="georgia, serif"><span style="font-size:14px;line-height:21.625px"><br></span></font></div><div><div><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Baskerville Old Face&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Ali
Hussein</span></b></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Baskerville Old Face&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">CEO, 3mice interactive media ltd</span></b></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt">

<font><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Baskerville Old Face&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;"><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Baskerville Old Face&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;">Partner, </span></b>Telemedia Africa Ltd<br></span></b></font></p>

<font>

</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font> </font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span>T<font>el: +25471360<font>1113</font></font><br></span></span></font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span>Twitter: @AliHKassim</span><span></span></span></font></p><font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">

</span></font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span>Skype: abu-jomo</span></span></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span>LinkedIn: <a href="http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim" target="_blank">http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim</a></span><a href="http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"></span></a></span></font></p>

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</p><font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><span>Blog: <a href="http://www.alyhussein.com" target="_blank">www.alyhussein.com</a></span></span></font><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&quot;Baskerville Old Face&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;"></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"></span>

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