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The Internet In the Arab World
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Freedom of expression is missing despite a decision banning imprisonment for press crimes
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Egypt: Serious Development In Bloggers' Persecution
Prompt Military Trial For A 20-Year-Old Blogger After A 3 Day Investigation
Cairo 1/3/2010
Update : 3 pm 1/3/2010
Military Court adjourned lawsuit #6/2010 of the blogger Ahmed Mostafa to 2/3/2010 to for documents' review
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information expressed , today, extreme shock at the decision of the military prosecutor to refer the blogger student Ahmed Mostafa ,20 years old, to military court on 1/3/2010 for allegedly publishing false information about the military establishment, after an investigation that is the quickest of all according to ANHRI lawyers of the Legal Aid Unit who attended the interrogation sessions.
On 25/2/2010, the young blogger was summoned to the military prosecutor of Kafr AlSheikh in lower Egypt, after he had received a call where he was surprised to learn that a communiqué was filed against him by the military academy accusing him of publishing false information on his blog a year ago, on 15/2/2009.
The military prosecutor conducted an investigation after which he decided to put Ahmed in detention pending investigation. The investigation was concluded on 28/2/2010 and the prosecution decision was to bring the young blogger to a quick military trial today, 1/3/2010 on the case #6/2010.
The young man is court marshaled though he is a civilian and a 20 year old engineering student. In addition his lawyers were denied access to investigation documents though he only practiced permissible criticism of an alleged incident on his blog.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said, "We are shocked and extremely frustrated of the incident as a whole. We are heading towards a military trial of a young civilian because of an article he wrote on his blog a year ago. Apart from the unfairness of the trial in principle, the incident manifests the Egyptian officials' lies about using emergency laws against bloggers. In essence, currently there are two detained bloggers, Mossad Abu Fajr and Hani Nazeer, in one prison, Borg AlArab's.
ANHRI added, "It seems that the Egyptian government has decided to drive the war against bloggers , up to the climax of unfair military trials" .
ANHRI calls on all organizations defending freedom of expression in Egypt and the world for solidarity with the young blogger Ahmed Mustafa ,to urge the Egyptian government to stop this military trial immediately and drop the unfair charges against him. ANHRI stresses on the illegitimacy of criminal prosecutions in publication cases not to mention military trials that lack basic fairness conditions.
The trial will be held today at the military court in Nasr City, 10th district, as per Act #113/1956, amended by Act 14/1967, which prohibits publication of any news about the armed forces .
Link to blog topic
http://hazel2eyes.jeeran.com/archive/2009/2/805460.html
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