04 May 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Elton John was banned from playing a private show on 18 May after the head of Egypt’s musician union denounced his “anti-religious sentiments”. Union head Mounir al Wasimi said John should not be allowed to perform in Egypt because he is “a homosexual who wants to ban religions, claimed that the prophet Issa (Jesus) was gay and calls for Middle Eastern countries to allow gays to have sexual freedom…”.
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.
14 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
At least 21 Egyptian expatriates have been arrested and deported from Kuwait for supporting Mohamed ElBaradei. The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency champions political reform in Egypt and is being tipped as a potential presidential candidate. About 30 ElBaradei supporters were arrested in a café on Thursday for what the Kuwaiti interior minister, Sheikh Jaber al-Sabah, said was an illegally assembly. Kuwait police had previously arrested three other ElBaradei supporters. Egypt has claimed they had no hand in these arrests and deportations. AFP reports that more than 400,000 Egyptians live in Kuwait, the country prohibits non-Kuwaitis from participating in demonstrations.
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.
