Egypt cracks down on political bloggers At least six bloggers are among about 300 protesters jailed during the past month's suppression of demonstrations. The bloggers, supporters say, were singled out by police, who pointed them out before agents rushed in to hustle them away. In the view of some human rights observers, the Egyptian government has begun to note political activity online and is taking steps to rein it in.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Egypt cracks down on political bloggers
This is why I get just yawn at the Pittsburgh Blog Fests. I think we need to be agitators and instigators in terms of freedoms, not social beer swilling do littles.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Egypt cracks down on political bloggers
Rising number of Web protesters put in jail
Sunday, June 04, 2006
By Daniel Williams, The Washington Post
CAIRO, Egypt -- Just over a year ago, Alaa Seif al-Islam was one of a growing number of Egyptian bloggers who recounted their lives online, published poetry, provided Web tips, helped private aid agencies use the Internet and stayed out of politics.
But on May 25, 2005, Mr. Seif al-Islam witnessed the beating of women at a pro-democracy rally in central Cairo by supporters of the ruling National Democratic Party. He was then roughed up by police, who confiscated the laptop computer ever at his hand.
After that, Mr. Seif al-Islam's blog turned to politics. It began not only to describe the troubles of Egypt under its authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak, but also described acts of repression and became a vehicle for organizing public protests.
On May 7, Mr. Seif al-Islam took part in a downtown sit-in to show support for two judges whose jobs are threatened because they denounced electoral fraud during parliamentary elections in November.
Police with sticks broke up the protest and trucked dozens of demonstrators, including Mr. Seif al-Islam, to jail, where he remains.
At least six bloggers are among about 300 protesters jailed during the past month's suppression of demonstrations. The bloggers, supporters say, were singled out by police, who pointed them out before agents rushed in to hustle them away. In the view of some human rights observers, the Egyptian government has begun to note political activity online and is taking steps to rein it in.
"Blogging was a new but growing phenomenon. The government is monitoring, and it doesn't like" what it sees, said Gamal Eid, director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.
The legal status of the jailed bloggers and other detainees distresses their relatives and friends: Under Egypt's emergency laws, which have been in place for 25 years, the bloggers can be jailed indefinitely.
Among the charges lodged against Mr. Seif al-Islam is insulting Mubarak, who has been Egypt's president for a quarter-century.
"Today it hit me; I am really in prison," Mr. Seif al-Islam wrote in a letter that his wife, Manal Hassan, posted on their Web site, www.manalaa.net, on May 10. "I'm not sure how I feel.
"He's OK," said Ms. Hassan, co-blogger on the site Manal and Alaa Bit Bucket. Mr. Seif al-Islam's parents were well-known political activists. In the 1980s, Mr. Seif al-Islam's father was jailed for five years.
"Alaa used to criticize the approach of our generation," said Mr. Seif al-Islam's mother, Layla Sweif. "We were not independent; we belonged to parties. He just wants free expression. He wants Egypt to be like other countries."
Now, in a sense, Mr. Seif al-Islam is following in his father's footsteps, though using the Web to do it.
If we swilled beer in Egypt we WOULD be aggitators.
Post a Comment