Greetings Sudoers,

This Saturday, March 15, is a #FreeBassel Day event in San Francisco at the Wikimedia Foundation offices.

If you don't know Bassel Khartabil (known online as Bassel Safadi): he is an open web developer and dedicated Internet volunteer who has been imprisoned (without charge) in Syria since March 2012. He was Creative Commons lead in Syria, played a large role in the translation of CC licenses into Arabic, and started the first hackerspace (Aiki Lab, Damascus) in the so-called Arab world. You can hear him discuss the hackerspace as well as the role of open source and maker culture in Syria in this podcast from early 2011.

Following the outbreak of violence in Syria in spring 2011, he converted the hackerspace into a triage center, using it to provide first aid care and training until it was no longer safe to do so.

This Saturday 15 March marks the second anniversary of his arrest, as well as the third anniversary of the Syrian uprising. In support of Bassel and in efforts to raise the profile of his case, #FreeBassel Day events are being held around the world to mark this date.

Here in SF, the event will involve a Wikipedia edit-a-thon, a potluck, the sharing of art, stories, and conversation about Bassel, and whatever else you might bring. Given Bassel’s involvement with hackerspaces, making culture, and open source projects, we hope that NB folks will attend – to learn about Bassel, discuss common interests, and/or improve Wikipedia’s coverage of hackerspaces and making culture.