[GRACE] Egypt releases blogger

[Jennifer Radloff]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:	"Ran Greenstein" <rangreen at sn.apc.org>
To:	anriette Esterhuysen <anriette at apc.org>
Date sent:	Thu, 22 Jun 2006 14:29:38 +0200
Subject:	Egypt releases
Priority:	urgent

The Independent (co.uk)

Egypt releases blogger jailed for 45 days after 'insulting' President
By Jeff Black in Cairo Published: 21 June 2006

Egyptian authorities have ordered the release of an award-winning
blogger and activist, imprisoned 45 days ago on charges including
insulting the President.

Alaa Seif al-Islam, 24, who was arrested at a pro-reform 
demonstration
on 7 May, had drawn the ire of the authorities for his provocative
weblog and taking part in banned street protests. He is expected to 
be
released from the Tora prison in Cairo today.

The release comes after a turbulent period of protest and violence 
in
Egypt. Practically all groups opposed to President Hosni Mubarak,
including the Muslim Brotherhood and secular groups such as 
Kifaya!
(Enough!) and Youth for Change have had members beaten. 
Hundreds have
been arrested.

Alaa's wife, Manal, with whom he runs the website Manalaa.net, 
which
won an award from the media freedom group Reporters Without 
Borders,
said after the decision: "There's no going back now, we'll definitely
be continuing our activities."

Opposition groups have rallied around two judges on trial after 
making
allegations about election fraud. Since April, 48 activists associated
with Kifaya! and Youth for Change have been detained. Allegations 
of
sexual assault and torture have been made by prisoners. In 
particular,
the case of Mohammed al-Sharqawi, a Youth for Change member, 
who was
reportedly sexually assaulted while in custody, continues to cause
rights groups concern.

Alaa Seif al-Islam has risen to prominence as part of a new 
generation
of secular activists that, while lacking a specific political
programme, are in essence anti-authoritarian. The nephew of the 
author
Ahdaf Soueif and the son of veteran campaigners Dr Layla Soueif 
and
Ahmed Seif, Alaa has the dissident pedigree. However, he is a 
relative
latecomer to street protests. " After May 2005, when I was beaten 
up
by police, it was then that Alaa became an activist. Before that he
didn't get personally involved," said his mother, Layla, a 
mathematics
professor at Cairo University.

Supporters highlight Alaa's importance in pushing the boundaries 
for
political dissent through the internet. Nora Younis, a fellow blogger
and activist, said: "He raises the ceiling of what is possible. After
others were arrested on charges of 'insulting the President', he
arranged a petition on his site that said 'we, the undersigned, insult
the President' - to be given to the Public Prosecutor."

Officials at the Ministry of the Interior were not available for
comment on the release, but analysts suggested that it did not 
signify
a relaxing of the government's strict stance.