Free-software activists hope for detained engineer's freedom

Bassel Khartabil, a volunteer with copyright licensing nonprofit Creative Commons, was reportedly detained by the Syrian government on March 15.

Computer engineer Bassel Khartabil has dedicated himself to making software free and open for years, and now his friends are asking for his freedom from the Syrian government's detention.

Khartabil was reportedly taken in an ambush on March 15 -- the first anniversary of the Syrian uprising -- during massive arrests. And while it's unclear why Khartabil was detained, activists say the government is known to take people randomly and without reason. It a scary time, particularly for those who are willing to gather and share information, according to activists.

The 16-month old Syrian crisis has claimed many lives with activists estimating more than 17,000 people killed.

Khartabil's friends and family are hopeful they can raise awareness through a blog launched to campaign for his freedom.

"Since his arrest, Bassel's valuable volunteer work, both in Syria and around the world, has been stopped," Khartabil's supporters wrote in the blog launched last week. "His absence has been painful for the communities that depend on him. In addition, his family, and his fiancee whom he was due to marry this past April, have had their lives put on hold."

Khartabil's family and friends don't know how the detention happened and only discovered the government had taken him after other detained people reported seeing Khartabil before they were released. Khartabil's supporters are still working on a timeline of what happened and a map of where they think he is held. They've heard from other activists that it's a place called branch 291 in the Damascus area, where the government allegedly tortured detainees.

Jon Phillips -- the founder of Fabricatorz, an open-source software and hardware company Khartabil is connected to -- said Khartabil's supporters have started the campaign to bring attention to the situation. They hope they can get him out.

"The state of Syria is very complicated," Phillips told CNET. "Our goal is to free our friend."

The campaign includes a petition that has been signed by by hundreds of supporters, from dozens of countries, including Harvard professor and political activist for the free-software movement Lawrence Lessig, who posted about Bassel's campaign on his blog on July 4:

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Free-software activists hope for detained engineer's freedom