PEN’s Free Expression Digest brings you a daily curated round-up of the most important free expression-related stories from around the web. Please send your feedback and suggestions to [email protected]

Turkey releases imprisoned VICE News journalist
A Vice News journalist being held in Turkey was released on bail after spending 131 days in prison, the news organization tweeted on Tuesday. Mohammed Rasool and two British journalists were detained in August of last year. The three were charged with ‘knowingly and willfully’ helping terrorists, according to Turkey’s semiofficial Anadolu news agency. CNN

Saudi executions seen as sending message to all dissenters
Officials in Saudi Arabia have said that the executions of 47 prisoners on Saturday were a long overdue reckoning for militants. But with its decision to execute Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken antigovernment cleric and advocate for Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, the government seemed to deliver a warning to would-be militants, political dissidents, and others that any challenge to the royal family’s rule would not be tolerated, analysts say. THE NEW YORK TIMES

ISIS ran Facebook account of journalist after her death
The execution of a female journalist in ISIS’s ‘capital’ Raqqa was kept secret for months so jihadists could use her Facebook account to trap other activists. Ruqia Hassan Mohammed, 30, was accused of being a spy and murdered by ISIS in September, but her family were only told of her death last week. It has now emerged that jihadists hacked her Facebook account, and maintained it for months after her death in a bid to trap other opponents, according to local activist groups. DAILY MAIL

Missing activist found dead on Hong Kong hiking trail
An active member of Hong Kong’s localist movement was found dead on a hiking trail near Tai Mo Shan on Wednesday. The deceased, 39-year-old Jacob Choi Wai-yik, had been missing for three days. A friend of his told HKFP that Choi went hiking every Sunday: “He’s usually a responsible person. He will upload photos and stories about the hikes afterwards to show he was safe, but he did not this time.” Localist groups are tied with various movements related to the expansion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, for example advocating for city-state status or outright independence. HONG KONG FREE PRESS

Documentary about murdered war journalist James Foley to run on HBO
A documentary about James Foley, the freelance war correspondent who was abducted in Syria and beheaded in 2014 by ISIS, is coming to HBO next month. “Jim: The James Foley Story” is directed by Brian Oakes, a close childhood friend of Foley’s, and includes interviews with friends, family, and colleagues. Foley was kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 and went missing for two years before a video of his death at age 40 was released. CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Microsoft decided not to warn Tibetan and Uyghur e-mail hack victims
A few years ago, Microsoft experts concluded that the Chinese authorities had hacked into more than a thousand Hotmail accounts, including those belonging to the leaders of China’s Tibetan and Uyghur minorities. However, according to former employees of the company, Microsoft chose not to notify the victims for fear of angering the Chinese government, even though this may have put lives at risk. The company has stated that it will now inform victims of state-sponsored attacks. ARS TECHNICA UK

After six years in prison, an Iranian blogger sees a very different Internet
Before being sentenced to 20 years for political writing, Hossein Derakhshan was a powerhouse in Iranian blogging. He’s credited with popularizing blogging, and is jokingly referred to as ‘the blogfather’ of Iran. He didn’t expect to find himself in prison, but that’s where he spent from late 2008 to November 2014. After his release, Derakhshan says he emerged into a very different world. PRI