7 Dec 2011 | Index Index, minipost
The retrial of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad has been postponed to 14 December, making this the fifth time his case has been rescheduled. Maikel, who has been on hunger strike for over 100 days, was sentenced to three years in prison by a military court on charges of “insulting the armed forces” and “spreading false news” in a blog post published last March.
29 Nov 2011 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
The retrial of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil was postponed again on Sunday. The case, which was originally due to be heard on November 1, has been pushed back to December 4. Nabil was detained for accusing the military of having conducted virginity tests on female protesters on March 28. In April, Nabil was sentenced by a military court to three years imprisonment on charges of “insulting the military and dissemination of false news about the armed forces” in his blog “Son of Ra.” The 25 year old blogger has been on hunger strike since 23 August.
24 Nov 2011 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy tweeted to say she had been arrested and beaten in Cairo this morning. Eltahawy, who writes for Canada’s Toronto Star, Israel’s The Jerusalem Report and Denmark’s Politiken, is said to have been detained by Police in Tahrir Square. Following her arrest, the journalist tweeted “Beaten arrested in interior ministry” around 4am (EET).
Her arrest sparked outrage on Twitter, and the campaign to #FreeMona began trending worldwide.
It is also believed that activist Maged Butter, who was with Eltahawy, was also arrested, and a similar #freemaged campaign began on Twitter. Unconfirmed reports on the micro-blogging site suggest Maged has since been freed.
Also, documentary film-maker, Jehane Noujaim, best known for her documentary “Control Room” about the pan-Arab news station, Al-Jazeera, was detained, and her camera confiscated.
The US State department responded to the rumours of the arrests on Twitter: “Reports of @monaeltahawy and @pangeaworld detention very concerning. @USEmbassyCairo engaging authorities. #FreeMona“.
Images calling for the release of Mona and Maged also appeared on Twitter, as well as an image showing Maged’s injuries, following his release.
Mona tweeted “I AM FREE” shortly after 12.20 EET, and said she could barely type following “12 hours with Interior Ministry bastards and military intelligence combined.” Mona also alleged she had been sexually assaulted by 5 or 6 members of the Egyptian security forces, who “groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area.”
22 Nov 2011 | Middle East and North Africa, News and features
Despite the lethal crackdown, Egyptians are converging on Tahrir Square for the fourth day demanding change. Shahira Amin reports
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