Government harasses, closes offices of workers’ rights organisation in apparent retaliation for its reporting on labour issues
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: Egypt: End Harassment of Labor Rights Group Government Should Reverse Decision to Close CTUWS Offices (Cairo, April 26, 2007) – The Egyptian government should immediately reverse its order to close the headquarters and two branch offices of the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ […]
Blogger arrested and held for reporting on torture of detainees
(RSF/IFEX) – Voicing concern about increasingly repressive policies towards online dissent, Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of blogger Abdul-Moneim Mahmud, who was arrested on 14 April 2007 at Cairo airport. He has been charged with membership of an “illegal organisation” (the Muslim Brotherhood), but his arrest seems to be linked to the […]
Journalist’s residence in Alexandria raided in attempt to arrest him
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRinfo fears for the life of the journalist blogger Abdel Men’em Mahmoud, whose residence in Alexandria was broken into at dawn on 13 April 2007 by security forces seeking to arrest him. The incident appears to be part of a campaign carried out by the police in Cairo and Alexandria to arrest 42 […]
Prosecutors obstruct appeal of blogger Karim Amer’s conviction
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRinfo is asking the prosecutor-general to order members of the prosecution in East Alexandria Integral Court to stop hindering the procedure to appeal the conviction of Egyptian blogger Karim Amer. HRinfo’s lawyer, Rawda Ahmed, who is part of the defense team, has travelled to Alexandria many times to file the appeal. However, upon […]
HRinfo director, two bloggers, accused of “insult” and “defamation”, detained for questioning as harassment campaign against the organisation continues
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRinfo has announced that it will not be terrorised into giving up its right to sue Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad for violating HRinfo’s copyrights. Judge Mourad has initiated many court actions, including one accusing HRinfo Executive Director Gamal Eid and bloggers Manal Hassan and Alaa Seif – the administrators of http://manalaa.net – of […]
Previously-imprisoned blogger under watch, his laptop stolen, listed in government report with 16 others as “spreading false news”
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 19 March 2007 Human Rights Watch press release: Egypt: Investigate Torture, Rape of Activist Blogger (Cairo, March 19, 2007) – The Egyptian Interior Ministry should immediately investigate and prosecute the torture and rape of pro-democracy activist and blogger Muhammad al-Sharqawi in police custody last year, Human Rights Watch said […]
Appeals court upholds blogger’s conviction for “insulting Islam and president”
(HRinfo/IFEX) – On 12 March 2007, the Alexandria Appeals Court affirmed the first degree court’s sentence of four years’ imprisonment for Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Suliman Amer for “insulting Islam and the president of Egypt”. The decision taken by the Appeals Court was unexpected. It is a setback for freedom of expression in Egypt, and […]
Judge seeks to have HRinfo’s website, 20 others blocked for “tarnishing government and president’s reputation”
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRinfo condemns Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad for taking on a case calling for the Egyptian government to block 21 Egyptian websites and blogs, as reported by the “Rozal Youssef” newspaper on 2 March 2007. According to the front page report, Judge Mourad, head of the Alexandria Appeals Court, raised a case before the […]
Court disregards defence’s request for witnesses in trial of Al-Jazeera journalist
(HRinfo/IFEX) – On 7 March 2007, the Nozha Misdemeanour Court held the third hearing on the case against Howayda Taha, a producer with Al-Jazeera television. The court viewed different parts of the videotapes that the public prosecutor claimed contain scenes that “destroy the reputation of the Egyptian government”. In addition, the court listened to and […]
Journalists fined, their prison sentences dropped, for “insulting president”
(HRinfo/IFEX) – The following is a 28 February 2007 HRinfo press release: A new episode in the regime’s restriction of Freedom of Expression The two Al-Dostour journalists fined Cairo – 28 February 2007 – Judge Ismail Abu Kerisha of the Misdemeanor Appeal Court in Al-Warak sentenced Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly “Al-Dostour”, and […]
CAPSULE REPORT: RSF urges President Mubarak to respect his commitment to reform laws governing press offences
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 21 February 2007 RSF press release: President Mubarak urged to keep promise he made three years ago Exactly three years ago, the newly-elected president of the Union of Egyptian Journalists, Galal Aref, made an important announcement: President Hosni Mubarak had just telephoned him and had formally undertaken to abolish […]
Young blogger sentenced to four years in prison for “disparaging religion” and “defaming the president”
(HRinfo/IFEX) – HRinfo condemns the harsh sentence announced by Moharram Beik Misdemeanor Court in Alexandria against the secular blogger, Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, popularly known as Kareem Amer. Amer was sentenced for four years in prison on charges of disparaging religion and defaming the Egyptian president. The court held a session on 22 February 2007 […]
Detention of hundreds from largest opposition group shows government intolerant of criticism, says Human Rights Watch
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Detainees Face Military Tribunals (Cairo, February 15, 2007) – Egypt should release the hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has […]
Al-Jazeera producer to be tried on charges of “harming national interest”
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned a 27 January 2007 decision by judicial authorities to initiate trial proceedings against Al-Jazeera TV producer Howayda Taha on a charge of “harming national interest” in a documentary she was preparing about police torture in Egypt. Taha was detained for 24 hours earlier this month, a few days […]
Imprisoned blogger faces up to nine years in prison for posting articles critical of Islam
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information wrote to Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei on 22 January 2007 asking him to intercede on behalf of Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman (better known by his blogger pseudonym of Kareem Amer), whose trial is due to start on 25 January in Alexandria. Held […]
Human Rights Watch calls on government to drop charges against Al-Jazeera journalist
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 17 January 2007 Human Rights Watch press release: Egypt: Government Detains Al-Jazeera Journalist Government Should Prosecute Torturers, Not Reporters (Cairo, January 17, 2007) – Egyptian security officers have charged a journalist with spreading false news that could “harm the national interest” for working on a documentary about torture in […]