.Egypt Military in Crackdown Against Dissidents
Days after US President Barack Obama called on Egypt's military to lift a state of emergency and end military trials for civilians, Egypt's ruling military jailed Alaa Abdel Fatah, a veteran dissident and blogger on charges of inciting deadly clashes between soldiers and Christians in October.
Abdel Fatah, who was jailed for his activism under ousted President Hosni Mubarak's government in 2006, was remanded in custody for 15 days, and it is now up to the prosecutor to decide whether to formally refer him to a military court or release him.
Another activist, Bahaa Saber, faces the same charges but he was not detained. He said that he and Abdel Fatah were charged with inciting attacks against soldiers and participating in the October 9 clashes in Cairo. Saber said they are charged with inciting attacks against soldiers and participating in them.
Coptic Christians were protesting against an attack on a church when clashes broke out with soldiers outside the state television's building. The clashes left 25 people dead, most of them Copts.
At the time, soldiers reportedly fired upon protesters and ran them over with armoured cars. The military denied the accusations and instead said that a number of its soldiers had died in the clashes.It refused to give a toll.
Saber said he and Abdel Fatah refused to answer the prosecutor's questions when they attended the military prosecutor's summons on Sunday. He said they were convinced that the military has no right to intervene in judicial matters.
He went on to say: "It was humiliating and unacceptable. This is an unjust escalation by the military. I will not be silenced nor intimidated, and I don't think people will be silent either."
Abdel Fatah and Saber are only two of the thousands of civilians the military has tried in trials rights groups say are unfair and result in harsh sentences, since it took charge of the country after Mubarak's ouster on February 11.
Saber said the pair's lawyers were not allowed to see the military prosecution's evidence, and given its role in the incident questioned the military's impartiality in investigating the deadly clash.
Paris-based media rights groups 'Reporters without Borders' expressed concern at the plight of Fatah, Saber and other "cyber-activists" in Egypt, accusing the current regime of pursuing "increasingly repressive policies towards the Internet and bloggers." It said the situation for Internet-based activists had worsened since the fall of Mubarak.
It said that on October 22, Ayman Youssef Mansour was sentenced to three years' forced labour for having insulted Islam on Facebook, said RSF, and four days earlier a court ordered blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad to be confined to a psychiatric clinic for 45 days for having insulted the armed forces, it added.
During the uprising the military was hailed for not siding with Mubarak, but it now faces growing discontent over its trials of civilians and suspicion that it is delaying a transition to civilian rule.
Egypt is scheduled to start parliamentary elections on November 28, followed by presidential polls sometime in 2012.
Meanwhile, the trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak which was due to resume on Sunday was postponed following demands for the appointment of a new judge. Now a new hearing has been set for December 28.
Egyptian news agency MENA said: "The Cairo criminal court, chaired by Judge Ahmed Refaat, decided to adjourn the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal, businessman Hussein Salem, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six of his assistants to December 28,"
Mubarak, who was forced to quit in February following massive streets protests, has been on trial since August 3 on charges of involvement in the killings of protesters and corruption. He has pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers for alleged victims of Mubarak in his murder trial have petitioned the court demanding that judge Refaat be replaced. Refaat has defended the court's integrity in previous sessions while lashing out at critics. MENA said the trial will resume once a decision has been taken on call to replace Refaat.
An appeals court is due to give a verdict on December 26.
TripoliPost
Abdel Fatah, who was jailed for his activism under ousted President Hosni Mubarak's government in 2006, was remanded in custody for 15 days, and it is now up to the prosecutor to decide whether to formally refer him to a military court or release him.
Another activist, Bahaa Saber, faces the same charges but he was not detained. He said that he and Abdel Fatah were charged with inciting attacks against soldiers and participating in the October 9 clashes in Cairo. Saber said they are charged with inciting attacks against soldiers and participating in them.
Coptic Christians were protesting against an attack on a church when clashes broke out with soldiers outside the state television's building. The clashes left 25 people dead, most of them Copts.
At the time, soldiers reportedly fired upon protesters and ran them over with armoured cars. The military denied the accusations and instead said that a number of its soldiers had died in the clashes.It refused to give a toll.
Saber said he and Abdel Fatah refused to answer the prosecutor's questions when they attended the military prosecutor's summons on Sunday. He said they were convinced that the military has no right to intervene in judicial matters.
He went on to say: "It was humiliating and unacceptable. This is an unjust escalation by the military. I will not be silenced nor intimidated, and I don't think people will be silent either."
Abdel Fatah and Saber are only two of the thousands of civilians the military has tried in trials rights groups say are unfair and result in harsh sentences, since it took charge of the country after Mubarak's ouster on February 11.
Saber said the pair's lawyers were not allowed to see the military prosecution's evidence, and given its role in the incident questioned the military's impartiality in investigating the deadly clash.
Paris-based media rights groups 'Reporters without Borders' expressed concern at the plight of Fatah, Saber and other "cyber-activists" in Egypt, accusing the current regime of pursuing "increasingly repressive policies towards the Internet and bloggers." It said the situation for Internet-based activists had worsened since the fall of Mubarak.
It said that on October 22, Ayman Youssef Mansour was sentenced to three years' forced labour for having insulted Islam on Facebook, said RSF, and four days earlier a court ordered blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad to be confined to a psychiatric clinic for 45 days for having insulted the armed forces, it added.
During the uprising the military was hailed for not siding with Mubarak, but it now faces growing discontent over its trials of civilians and suspicion that it is delaying a transition to civilian rule.
Egypt is scheduled to start parliamentary elections on November 28, followed by presidential polls sometime in 2012.
Meanwhile, the trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak which was due to resume on Sunday was postponed following demands for the appointment of a new judge. Now a new hearing has been set for December 28.
Egyptian news agency MENA said: "The Cairo criminal court, chaired by Judge Ahmed Refaat, decided to adjourn the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal, businessman Hussein Salem, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six of his assistants to December 28,"
Mubarak, who was forced to quit in February following massive streets protests, has been on trial since August 3 on charges of involvement in the killings of protesters and corruption. He has pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers for alleged victims of Mubarak in his murder trial have petitioned the court demanding that judge Refaat be replaced. Refaat has defended the court's integrity in previous sessions while lashing out at critics. MENA said the trial will resume once a decision has been taken on call to replace Refaat.
An appeals court is due to give a verdict on December 26.
TripoliPost
posted by madtom at 11:09 PM
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