Egyptian activist bloggers Alaa and Bahaa face military prosecutionI have been following the career of Alaa and Manal since 2005 (see here, here, here, and here; also a couple of the links in this recent post). I have not heard of Bahaa before this.
Two prominent activists and bloggers are questioned by the military prosecution over their alleged incitement of the Maspero clashes earlier this month
Hatem Maher, Sunday 30 Oct 2011 (Al-Ahram)
Activists Alaa Seif Abd El-Fattah and Bahaa Saber arrived at the offices of the military prosecution Sunday morning to face questioning over their alleged role in instigating the deadly Maspero clashes which left scores dead and injured earlier this month.
Both activists were due to be questioned last week but a hearing was delayed because Seif was in the US, where he spoke to American protesters taking part in the occupy wall street movement.
According to lawyer Nesma Zahran, a member in El Nadim Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, Seif and Saber are facing charges of inciting the downtown Cairo clashes between Coptic Christians protesting the torching of a church in upper Egypt and their Muslim supporters on one side, and the army and the police on the other.
At least 26 people were killed and dozens wounded in the army/police clampdown on the protesters on 9 October in front of the state TV headquarters (Maspero).
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) later expressed "regret" for the incident, but continued to try and put the blame for the violence on Coptic and secularist incitement.
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Veteran political activists, both Seif and Saber were arrested in 2006 for criticising the former regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak. Abd El-Fattah, along with his wife Manal Hassan, runs the well-known political blog ‘Manalaa.’ Possibly Egypt's most famous blogger, his Twitter account has over 45,000 followers.
According to Egyptian human rights activist Mona Seif, military prosecutors claim to possess video footage proving that Seif and Saber had incited protesters to commit violent attacks against army personnel at the height of the Maspero clashes.
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The incitement accusations seem not to be directly related to blogging, but the two arrestees are known to a large degree because of their blogging. Much additional information about the case and the issues involved (such as video evidence of army atrocities at the protest, plus the problem of trying civilians in military tribunals) is covered in the Christian Science Monitor (Egypt's military rulers detain prominent activist. Is he a scapegoat?) and a NYT blog by Robert Mackey (Egyptian Activists Summoned by Military Prosecutor). And Al-Ahram has more on Alaa here.
I can find no public record of the supposed video showing the incitement (in contrast to the ample public video record of army atrocities during the Maspero protests). Alaa and Bahaa are (or at least should be) innocent until proven guilty and any case against them should be tried in a civilian court.
As someone who has criticised the new Egyptian Government, I should feel very unsafe traveling to Egypt right now, just as I did back in 2006 during the Mubarak regime.
I posted this in the morning and then withdrew the post a little later when I decided I needed to look at the details more closely. Having done so, I repost it here in revised form.
UPDATE (1 November):
Egypt's blogger/activist @Alaa’s detention triggers mass protest against military trials
Thousands take the streets to demand freedom for renowned Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, imprisoned for refusing - on principle - to answer questions by the military prosecution
Salma Shukrallah , Tuesday 1 Nov 2011 (ahramonline)
Thousands gathered on Monday in downtown Cairo's Talaat Harb Square demanding the release of Alaa Abd El-Fatah, one of Egypt's most well-known bloggers and political activists , and expressing support for his decision to refuse to be questioned by the military prosecution on the grounds that it had no business interrogating civilians. Abd El-Fattah, who was brought before the military prosecution on Monday, also argued that in this particular case - the 9 October violent clashes between the army and Coptic protesters - the army stands accused of the crime, and hence it would be absurd for a criminal suspect to be allowed to question another presumed suspect.
Activists have long been campaigning against the military trials of civilians, demanding that they are tried in civilian courts instead. They also believe that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) was trying to lay blame for the Bloody Sunday massacre, in which 26 people were killed and hundreds injured, on the victims. They have bundles of evidence, in the form of eyewitness testimony, videos and photos to support their contention that on that night the army and the anti-riot police had, suddenly, erupted into a paroxysm of extreme violence against a fundamentally peaceful protest, leading to the large number of deaths and injuries.
The protest of mostly young activists, many of whom only knew Abd El-Fattah through his @Alaa Twitter account, chanted “Alaa’s detention is liberating a country”. Abd El-Fatah’s stand was considered by the demonstrating crowd as a courageous sacrifice, which should be built upon, so as to bring an end to the military trials of civilians.
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