27 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
A team of lawyers called for the ban of Arabic classic A Thousand and One Nights on 17 April. The lawyers, from the “Actio popularis” group, filed a complaint with the prosecutor general, demanding that the book be confiscated and its publishers face imprisonment. Following a series of so-called Hesba lawsuits that have targeted writers, poets and filmmakers, the lawyers invoked article 178 of the penal code, which states that publishing material considered to be “offensive to public decency” is punishable by up to two years in prison. On 7 April, the state-run magazine Ibdaa closed after a Hesba lawyer claimed it published a poem insulting God.
08 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Security forces assaulted and obstructed the journalist covering protests on the streets of Cairo on April 6. In response to an appeal made by the 6th April Movement, dozens of civilians gathered on Midan Al-Tharir, in central Cairo, to call for constitutional change and more democratic elections. As the protesters marched through the capital, the Egyptian police intervened. Journalists reported being prevented from covering the incident, they were surrounded, insulted and violently attacked by police officers, many also had their cameras seized. Al Jazeera TV’s Cairo bureau chief, Hussein Abdel Ghani, told Agence France Press (AFP) his cameramen were searched and their video footage confiscated. Many demonstrators reported their mobile phones, with which they took pictures and videos of the assault, were seized.
06 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
The publisher of the new book about Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear watchdog, was arrested by the Egyptian authorities on Saturday. Egyptian officials raided Ahmed Mahanna’s house a week after he released a book lauding ElBaradei who has launched a campaign for political reform and hinted he may challenge Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in an election due in 2011. Egyptian officials did not state a reason for detaining Mahanna, who was released the next day.
08 Mar 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Student and blogger Ahmed Mostafa is facing a military court after a prosecutor announced on 1 March that they would push ahead with charges of ‘publishing false information about the military establishment’. There has been no investigation into Mostafa’s published allegations that a teacher’s son was pushed out of the military academy in order to make room for a more influential individual.
