7 Jul 2011 | Events
The Shubbak Festival — The People Demand a revolution Al-Sha`ab Yurid الشعب يريد:
Yasmine El Rashidi, former Middle East correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, talks to Index on Censorship editor Jo Glanville about the Arab Spring. El Rashidi is the author of The Battle for Egypt, an eyewitness account of the Egyptian revolution, published as an e-book by Random House. She is also contributing to a collection of writings by authors across the Arab world on the uprisings of 2011 – Al Shaab Yurid (The People Demand).
Date: 12 July 2011
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: The Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3GA
Tickets: £5 (£3 Concession)
To order a ticket, click here
Nearest tube: Farringdon
Buses: 63, 38, 19, 341, 55
30 Jun 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Tear gas was fired at protesters in Tahrir Square this week as hundreds of Egyptians demanded faster action against former senior officials who are currently awaiting trial. On Tuesday evening, families of the 840 people killed in February’s mass protests had gathered to honour the dead. When police arrived and violence erupted, the crowds moved towards Tahrir to speak out for the “martyrs” who had been killed in the uprising.
28 Jun 2011 | Uncategorized
A journalist and outspoken critic of the military treatment of civilians, Rasha Azab, was summoned in front of a military tribunal last week for an article she wrote in the independent daily newspaper Al-Fagr.
Azab is the first journalist to be tried, in a military court no less, for an article published in the wake of the 25 January revolution that saw the ousting of Hosni Mubarak. Al-Fagr’s editor-in-chief, Adel Hammouda, was also called to the same court.
The prospects are extremely worrying for the Egyptian independent media, which could risk facing military trials for exercising their profession.
After her first investigation, on 21 June, Rasha described her conversation with the military interrogator:
“He sure had studied my article quite well, and had highlighted the parts he wanted to discuss with me (…) There are multiple charges but the main one is spreading misinformation about the armed forces.”
The lawsuit was filed, according to Azab, by General Hassan El Roweiny, the military authority mentioned in the article. “So it’s the military leadership that will determine the course of the lawsuit,” she said.
General El Roweiny is a familiar figure of the revolution, as commander of the Central zone and a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which currently governs the State in the absence of a civilian president.
“This is the first lawsuit against a journalist for something they’ve written, not for a political action or demonstrating for example. The purpose is the terrorise journalists who plan on writing about the transgressions and the torture done by the Military Council”, said Azab.
Azab’s article, which remains available online, is essentially a narrative of the relationship between the army and activists, focusing on cases of army violence towards protesters. It is based on public information, as well as on discussions between volunteer legal groups and the army. Azab says she was able to present first hand testimonies of the events she described – acts of torture committed by the army – which had been collected by Egyptian Human Rights centres.
The lawsuit remains pending with the military court.
3 Jun 2011 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
Take the time to watch the outrageous Vodafone ad that has sparked public outrage in Egypt this week. Vodafone, the company that complied with the Mubarak regimes demands to shutdown communications networks is taking credit for what happened in Tahrir Square.
If I were a Vodafone customer, I promise you I would’ve switched networks after watching their latest commercial. The film created by advertising agency JWT, takes credit for the Egyptian revolution.
You read that right. Vodafone and JWT are telling us, in a 3:59 spot, that “we’re not trying to take credit for the revolution but really, we totally inspired it with our crappy ad from last year. You’re welcome, Egypt”.
Because the tag line was something along the lines of “Our power isn’t that we’re number one — our power is in each one of us”. Whatever that means.
Apparently this tag line inspired people to take the streets. I mean, never mind the years of activism, the protests, the decades of cumulated grievances, the terrible economic situation, the trampled political freedoms, the police brutality, the torture, etc. Nah.
We just watched a Vodafone Ad, and thought: “Hey! We’re powerful! Let’s topple the president!”
Vodafone Egypt JWT Ad Taking Credit For #Jan25… by andreasudo
Watch it and then check out the hilarious IHateVodafoneEgypt.com. The PR backlash forced Vodafone Egypt to put out a public statement about the video, claiming it was “produced by JWT company for its internal use and not for public display”.
Now what about this about a lawsuit against them for disconnecting their phone and internet services?
