Maikel Nabil Sanad began a hunger strike on 23 August in protest against the three-year jail sentence he was given by a military court.
(RSF/IFEX) – 27 August 2011 – The blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad began a hunger strike in Cairo’s Al-Marg prison on 23 August in protest against the three-year jail sentence a military court gave him on 10 April. Sanad has heart problems and his detention since 28 March has undermined his health. He nonetheless says he is determined to continue his protest regardless of the consequences.
“I will no longer accept injustice,” Egypt’s first prisoner of conscience since the revolution recently said. “If my death is the price that must be paid to end this unjust situation, then I will pay it and I will die.”
Sanad reportedly drafted a statement about his decision to go on a hunger strike, which the prison has refused to release. The prison authorities are also opposing his transfer to the prison infirmary. Reporters Without Borders urges the authorities to free Sanad at once or, failing that, to provide him with all the medical care he needs.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces recently abandoned plans to try another blogger, Asmaa Mahfouz, on the same charges as Sanad. Reporters Without Borders urges the council to go further and to end all prosecutions of civilians before military courts.
