I received an SMS saying 3alaa was beaten up inside the notorious 3omraniya police station in Giza, where he’s currently locked up, pending release, following an order by the State Security prosecutor two days ago.
I spoke with his wife Manal. She says 3alaa was moved from Luman Tora prison to State Security’s premise in Giza (Gaber Ibn Hayyan), then to the 3omraniya police station last night, for the ever-lasting bureaucratic paper work. 3alaa was locked up in a tiny cell, full of criminals, some of whom were high on drugs and others were armed with knives and sharp objects, Manal said. Scuffles have broken out inside the cell between the criminals, who reportedly hit 3alaa several times. 3alaa spent the night standing on his feet, coz there was no room for him to sleep in that filthy cell. According to Manal, he managed to call her on the mobile phone, and he sounded in a very bad state, desperate to get out.
I called Ahmad Seif al-Islam, 3alaa’s father. He is still hopeful his son will be released in few hours.
Some activists and 3alaa’s family are standing at the moment in front of the police station awaiting the blogger’s release. On hearing the news 3alaa was beaten up, other activists are now on their way to the police station to protest 3alaa’s maltreatement.
This is bloody unbelievable! Let’s hope 3alaa gets out soon!
I spoke with his wife Manal. She says 3alaa was moved from Luman Tora prison to State Security’s premise in Giza (Gaber Ibn Hayyan), then to the 3omraniya police station last night, for the ever-lasting bureaucratic paper work. 3alaa was locked up in a tiny cell, full of criminals, some of whom were high on drugs and others were armed with knives and sharp objects, Manal said. Scuffles have broken out inside the cell between the criminals, who reportedly hit 3alaa several times. 3alaa spent the night standing on his feet, coz there was no room for him to sleep in that filthy cell. According to Manal, he managed to call her on the mobile phone, and he sounded in a very bad state, desperate to get out.
I called Ahmad Seif al-Islam, 3alaa’s father. He is still hopeful his son will be released in few hours.
Some activists and 3alaa’s family are standing at the moment in front of the police station awaiting the blogger’s release. On hearing the news 3alaa was beaten up, other activists are now on their way to the police station to protest 3alaa’s maltreatement.
This is bloody unbelievable! Let’s hope 3alaa gets out soon!
UPDATE: I just received breaking news….. 3alaa released!!!!!!!!
I called his wife on the mobile, but his sister Mona replied instead. She said 3alaa was beside her, talking on two cellular phones.. but she said he’s out… yes, finally out!!!! hohohohohoh!! MABROUK YA SHABAB! MABROUK YA TENNIN YA BAMBY!
UPDATE: Finally spoke with 3alaa. He’s in great spirit. I asked him, “Shall we meet up soon?” He answered quickly, “Of course, next demo!” followed by a long laughter…
UPDATE: Nora Younis posted a photo of 3alaa with Manal at home following his release.
[…] Update: Hosam , form the arabist, has contacted Manal and Alaa's father. Here is what he knows : […]
Sounds like the f***ers are trying to give him a parting kick without having to do the beating-up themselves.
Maybe peaceful protests are not the way to go anymore. Should dissidents start thinking of taking up arms?
[…] Elijah Zarwan writing on Global Voices informs us that the Award-winning Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Seif al-Islam Abd al-Fattah whose arrest by the Egyptian forces I blogged about over a month ago, has been freed. Ethan informs that there are indications that the 26 remaining Kefaya prisoners may also be released soon. Alaa’s wife, Manal, thinks he will be back home by late Thursday at the latest. Excellent news indeed or as they are saying on some Egyptian blogs, MABROUK YA SHABAB! MABROUK YA TENNIN YA BAMBY! (Congratulations, guys! Congratulations, you pink dragon!) […]
I know I must be missing something in translation. But why is Alaa being referred to as 3alaa?
For Arabic pronounciation.. The English language does not have the letter “3ein” which is the first letter of 3alaa’s name.
[…] ¿Os acordais de él? Hablé de ello hace un tiempo. Apresado por el régimen egipcio por fin ha sido puesto en libertad según leÃa ayer en Barcepundit. […]
[…] Back to blogging freely, 3alaa posted something interesting yesterday on his blog, recalling his “releaseâ€� experience in el-3omraniya police station, and more importantly, he sent strong message of solidarity to the Muslim Brothers’ detainees. 3alaa, the staunch secularist, bumped into the MB youth who were picked up during a summer beach trip in Marsa Matrouh. 3alaa speaks about how the misery of detention unites everyone, and how the brothers and the comrades became friends. 3alaa’s impression of the Brothers youth was that ‘they where from this new breed of islamists that reads blogs, watches al jazeera, sings sha3by songs, talks about intense love stories and chants “down Mubarak”. and being young most of them did not have any experience with prison before.‘ Interesting, coz it’s that same caliber of youth who are pushing the Islamist group towards moderation, and coordination with other secular forces. And it was them who pushed the MB’s ageing leadership to join in the street protests after Kefaya presented both a daring model for breaking taboos, and in the same time a pressure on the group to take a stronger stand towards the regime, lest losing the base cadres. More raproachment is expected, and needed, between Islamists and leftists, in such a critical stage. […]
[…] Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Seif al-Islam released Posted the 27th 2006f June, 2006 by Klintron in Politics, Media, Equal Rights Award-winning Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Seif al-Islam Abd al-Fattah walked out of Omraniya police station late this afternoon after spending 46 days in detention for attending a May 7 protest. I spoke with him soon after his release and he sounded fine—exhausted after a terrible night in the police station jail, but happy to be free and heading home. Manal and Alaa are Manalaa again. […]
[…] Around 300 activists demonstrated Tuesday evening in front of the press syndicate, calling for the release of pro-democracy detainees. The demonstrators included several of the recently released detainees, who showed up dressed in the white prison costumes they wore in Tora. The scene was beautiful. Released activists who haven’t seen one another since they got out of prison were hugging, and in tears. Others were recalling their prison stories, and exchanging jokes and laughters. Veteran socialist Kamal Khalil, and his colleagues Wael Khalil and Ibrahim el-Sahary got the lionshare of hugs and kisses. They led the demonstrators, in chants against Mubarak, and against State Security police. Central Security Forces surrounded the syndicate. The usual support brigades of baton-wielding plainclothes thugs were also present, together with few officers from State Security’s CounterCommunism’s Bureau. However, no hassels were witnessed, and one could get into the syndicate easily. The one-hour protest was followed by a conference, organized by the Liberties’ Committee. Several released detainees took the poduim, and shared their experiences with their supporters. Kamal Khalil denounced any talks between the opposition and Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, called for the release of Dr. Ayman Nour, Sharqawi, Sha3er, and the 700+ Muslim Brothers detainees. Kamal also condemned the US support for Mubarak and Israel, affirming that the movement for change in Egypt sees its democracy cause to be organically linked to other regional causes, most importantly Palestine and Iraq. Kamal also expressed his sorrow for the loss of his mentors and colleagues, Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly, Youssef Darwish and Ahmad 3abdallah Rozza, who passed away while he was in prison. “Rest in peace,” he said to his lost comrades. “I want to assure Hilaly the socialist movement has been revived. The Communists in Egypt are only getting stronger day by day. You taught us a lot, and we will not fail you.” I went out later with 3alaa, Manal, and Malek to a friend’s place where we were supposed to party. Unfortunately, after two hours of laughters, singing and dancing, we were showered with SMSs about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. We lost the mood for partying, and decided to go home and follow Al-Jazeera. Israeli tanks, as I write now, are rolling into north and south of the strip. Israeli F-16s have bombed two bridges in Gaza’s central zone. Gaza is now in darkness as Israeli jets shelled the only electric power station Gaza has. I tried calling a good friend of mine who lives there, but couldn’t get through to his cellular. My thoughts go out to him and all the Palestinians in Gaza… […]
[…] 3alaa has posted on his blog some details about Sharqawi’s current ordeal. […]
[…] Let’s hope Sharqawi’s and Sha3er’s release would go through quickly and that they will be freed tomorrow, without facing the same treatment 3alaa got on his release. […]
[…] As of late, Egypt’s courtrooms have been filled with hundreds of Islamist militants, civil society activists, cult leaders and gays. Now police officers are also among those sitting in holding cages and prison cells. On 8 October, two police officers were sentenced to three years in jail by a Cairo court for brutality causing the death of a detainee. Four days later, on 12 October, the trial of another officer opened at a Giza court. Lt. Colonel Arafa Hamza Mansour was accused of torturing a teenager to death three years ago. The officer, then the head of inspections at Al Umraniya police station, arrested 19-year-old Ahmad Tammam on 19 July 1999 at his home following a fight that took place between Tamman and another young man in his neighborhood. Tammam’s family received their son’s dead body three days later. According to Tammam’s family and reports by human rights groups, the arrest and alleged torture at the station were done as a favor to the other young man who had ties to the police officers. The family fought for three years to press charges against the perpetrators and claim that during that time they were subject to threats by thugs connected with the police and relatives of the other man involved in the fight. “Waiting for three years was the worst torture for us,” recalls Tammam’s brother, Muhammad, a 34-year-old civil servant at the Ministry of Power Supply. “That was a period of humiliation. The killer was outside [prison], while we have been suffering daily pain.” Human rights groups say torture in Egypt has become so endemic among law-enforcement agencies, that the state can no longer turn a blind eye to it. There’s a wave of torture trials because “there’s a wave of people dying of torture,” said Aida Seif Al Dawla from the Nadeem Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, which has been campaigning in solidarity with the Tammams. “Public awareness about torture has also increased,” she continued. “Some lawsuits have been won. This encouraged others to join in. The people are not silent anymore about such practices.” Other human rights activists say it’s because of cases like Tammam’s that the state has undertaken the latest campaign against torture in police stations. “We are seeing here the ‘privatization’ of torture,” said Ahmad Seif, director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, whose lawyers are filing the case on behalf of the Tammams. “Police officers now do not only torture upon government orders, but they also do that as a favor for their friends as in the case of Tammam. The government may have felt there was a loss of control.” While the government may provide political cover for State Security police in cases where torture is used to extract confessions from government dissidents, it is not interested in involving itself in personal fights and providing protection for those who do, Seif continued. In the past, reports by international human rights committees have criticized the Egyptian regime’s practices and its denial that torture took place in the country’s police stations and prisons. This tarnished the state’s image and embarrassed the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, which in turn pressed the government for action, according to Seif. “In my view the Foreign Ministry asked the government [to investigate] a couple of ‘real torture cases,’ so as to give the impression that there is progress, and that Egypt is a modern state,” he said. “That’s why they appointed, around three years ago, the new Public Prosecutor, Maher Abdel Wahed. He has referred to the court more torture cases than any of his predecessors ever have.” But it seems there’s still a long way to go if the government wants to foster its image domestically given its dismal record. “I’m worried, and I lost trust in the system and everything,” said Muhammad Tammam. “We put our faith in God hoping my brother’s blood wasn’t shed in vain. Justice has to be served.” […]
[…] With those words activist blogger 3alaa started a funny posting titled, “Boiling the Frogs between Cairo and Tel Aviv,” where political activism meets his cyber-humour. […]