2 Mar 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Ahmed Mostafa, an engineering student at the University of Kafr el-Sheikh, faced a military court on 27 February, accused of “publishing false information about a military institution”. Mostafa, 20, was arrested on orders from the military prosecutor’s office in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh on 25 February.
In February 2009, Mostafa reported on his blog Matha Assabak ya Watan (“What’s Wrong with my Homeland?”) on a student that had been forced to leave a military school in order to make room for another applicant.
“This isn’t the first time for Mostafa’s blog to fall under scrutiny,” said Rawda Ahmed, a lawyer following the case for the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. “Last year, he was summoned by officials of the Armed Forces on a friendly basis, who explained the problem to him.”
9 Feb 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
Three of the Muslim Brotherhood’s senior leaders, including Mahmoud Ezzat, the Brotherhood’s deputy leader, were detained alongside at least 11 other members for engaging in banned political activity. Although the Muslim Brotherhood is banned, its members won a fifth of the parliament seats in the 2005 election when they ran as independents. A spokesman for the group said the arrests were intended to thwart its preparations for elections later in the year.
5 Feb 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized
An Egyptian criminal court has convicted Yasser Barakat, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Mougaz of defamation. The suit was filed by Mustafa Bakri, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Osbo’ and member of the Egyptian parliament. Barakat has been sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 60,000 Egyptian pounds. Al Mougaz accused Barakat of engaging in illegal profiteering, taking advantage of his governmental positions to buy land for less than the market value.
14 Dec 2009 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
Egyptian journalist, blogger and human rights activist Wael Abbas has been sentenced to six months in prison according to his Twitter page. In his tweet he says “I was sentenced to 6 months in prison in absentia, I don’t know yet what for, will update you.” His family home was raided yesterday and searched by plain clothed police while the activist was attending a bloggers’ conference in Beirut, according to both Abbas and his mother.
