Tag: egypt

Democracy detainees’ ordeal continues…

Karim el-Sha3er (photo on the right) has been subject to a knife assault in prison, an activist source said. Karim el-Sha3erSha3er and Sharqawi are the only two remaining Kefaya detainees, after the release of their fellow secular activists. (Hundreds of MBs are still in Tora Prison.)

The two activists’ treatment in prison has been steadily deteriorating, and Sharqawi recently received death threats from a criminal with ties to security, and the two have been prevented from visits by lawyers.
The delegation of university professors which tried to meet the Public Prosecutor today, was received by his aide only, who promised Sharqawi and Sha3er would be released today, before their detention review tomorrow, Kefaya is saying. Kefaya has called for a demo tomorrow in front of the State Security Prosecutor‘s office in Heliopolis, if the Assistant Public Prosecutor’s promise turned out to be farce.
UPDATE: 3alaa published more details on his blog…

Prison authorities prevented Lawyer Gamal Eid from visiting his client Mohammed Al Sharkawy yesterday (Monday the 17th) even though state security prosecutor issued a visit permit, after much deliberation they allowed him to see Karim Al Shaer only.

According to Gamal Eid, Karim’s right Arm was injured by a switch blade after a criminal inmate attacked him, Karim suspects the attack was arranged by police officers. Karim is being detained in the infamous 12a cell, where acts of violence are quite common.

Today Lawyer Rajia Omran was prevented from visiting both Mohammed Sharkawy and Karim Al Shaer despite having another permit from state security prosecutor, she filed a complaint with Maadi district prosecutor accusing officer Ayman Ra’fat and the prison Sherif of denying the prisoners their basic constitutional rights and obstructing a decision taken by a judiciary body.

This comes directly after Sharkawy receiving several death threats, friends and colleagues are worried that prison authority might be trying to hide a violent crime against Sharkawy.

On the other hand a delegation of university professors, journalists, lawyers and activists went to the General Prosecutor office today to hand out a statement demanding the immediate release of Mohammed Sharkawy and Karim Al Shaer. hundreds had signed the statement in solidarity with the two torture victims. Judge Adel Said, the general prosecutors aid announced that the two will be released today.

Solidarity with Sharqawi from Canada

We received this from Hicham Safieddine, a Lebanese journalist in Canada.

Dear Arabist.Net,

My name is Hicham Safieddine and I am journalist currently in Montreal. I thought you would be interested to know that I read out excerpts from the letter activist Mohamad Sharqawi wrote from prison and that was posted on your website last week, on CKUT, Montreal’s community radio station. You can listen to the reading and a discussion about Sharqawi and Egypt in general on the internet at www.ckut.ca. Click on “programming and archives,” go to the Wednesday column and click on the “Caravan” show. it is part of the July 12 show. It begins around the 46 minute mark.

My heart and thought go out to Sharqawi and all of those fighting for the dignity and freedom of the Egyptian people.

Sincerely,

Hicham Safieddine

Meanwhile in Cairo, a delegation of university professors will meet with the new General Prosecutor tomorrow Tuesday, to demand Sharqawi’s release.

Just like that

Sheikh Khalifa has bestowed the gift of another new city for Egypt, to be dubbed “Sheikh Khalifa City.”

Considering Egypt’s experience with new cities — see how much of 10th of Ramadan, 6th of October, and whatever other ugly name based on a date — I won’t be holding my breath.

Pro-Lebanese demos

A few dozen activists assembled on Sunday afternoon at the Lawyers’ Syndicate, demonstrating in support of the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance. Here’s a slideshow of protest pix by Nasser Nouri.

Later by 5pm, around 150 activists gathered to protest the Israeli military operations in front of the Doctor’s Syndicate. A journalist who witnessed the demo sent me this report: Continue reading Pro-Lebanese demos

Activists call for release of detainees

Around 150 activists assembled on the doorsteps of the Press Syndicate, protesting the continued detention of Youth for Change activists Sharqawi and Sha3er, and hundreds of Muslim Brothers detainees.

The one-hour stand protest began at 6pm, with several released detainees leading the chants. The protestors were mainly rights lawyers and activists from Kefaya, left wing groups, Al-Ghad Party, and few members of the MB.

The demonstrators carried posters of Sharqawi, Sha3er and MB leader Dr. Essam el-Erian.

The syndicate was surrounded since the afternoon by CSF troops, who formed a two row cordon circling the syndicate. At least four CSF trucks were parked in Ramsis St. Two battalions of plainclothes thugs were stationed in their usual places, on the two corners of the syndicate building. Security controlled access to the demo location, but it posed no obstables for those who wanted to get in.

For roughly an hour, demonstrators chanted the usual chants against Mubarak, the govt, police, called for the release of detainees. Later, they started chanting slogans against the Israeli military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. At 6:50pm, two Youth for Change activists decided to get out of the CSF ring, and distribute flyers in the street. For no more than two minutes, the two guys kept on throwing the leaflets accross windows of passing cars, before security moved in quickly. Plainclothes and uniformed officers moved quickly, grabbed the two and pushed them back. A brief scuffle happened with other activists pushing CSF concripts trying to get out to join their friends, but it was over when the two activists were returned to the ring.

Ten minutes later, the demo was over, as Rozza’s memorial was about to start…

Here is slideshow of pix by 3amr 3abdallah of today’s demo.

On Friday, Al-Masri Al-Youm reported several thousands took part in protests in solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinians in Al-Azhar Mosque and other provinces outside Cairo.

Here’s a slideshow of pix by Nasser Nouri of Al-Azhar Friday demo. Activists from the Islamist-leaning Labor Party, according to Nasser, led others in chanting in solidarity with the Palestinians and Lebanese. There were also chants against the Saudi royal family, and Arab regimes.

More on the Hizbollah debate…

As long as there is occupied Arab land, Hizbollah has the right to continue fighting Israel. What is good about Hizbollah is that they have limited their attacks to Israeli military targets. And, they’ve been successful. The group, since its establishment following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, have fought a successful guerilla campaign against the Israeli occupation, which managed to bring finally a humiliating retreat by Israeli troops, with an even more disorganized flight of their proxy SLA agents.

Hizbollah, a Shiite based group and sure has its agenda in Lebanon’s sectarian matrix, has acted to its credit in a largely responsible way vis a vis other sects. The party worked hard to portray itself as a “national� party, and thus limited its military operations to the Israeli occupation troops, hoping, and at times indeed winning, the support outside their sect in Lebanon, mainly among Sunnis, but more importantly had a wider support in the Arab World—a Sunni dominated region, with a clear dislike for Shiites in general.

But “praisingâ€� Hizbollah depends on the political context. If Hizbollah is fighting the Israeli army, demanding the release of the detainees, or fighting to liberate Sheb3a, then I’m on Hizbollah’s side. If Hizbollah members go around enforcing moral codes on population under their control, then I’m with that population against Hizbollah. Continue reading More on the Hizbollah debate…

New liberal party launched

Dr. Osama al-Ghazali Harb, political pundit and editor of Al-Siyassa Al-Dawliya, is to hold a press conference on the launching of his new political party in Egypt on Sunday, 16 July, 11am at the Shepherd Hotel in downtown Cairo, according to a press release I received.
Harb, a former member of the NDP’s Policies’ Secretariat, resigned from the party shortly after he voted against Mubarak’s proposed constitutional amendment at the Shura Council February last year, and expressed his interest in forming a new political party with a liberal agenda.

I’m attaching the press release. Continue reading New liberal party launched

Hamas Cairo press conference cancelled

The press conference by Mohamed Nazzal, Hamas’ representative in Lebanon, that had been scheduled today noon, was cancelled.

A reporter friend who went there in the morning told me there was “confusion, and the hotel people were acting funny.” He asked several managers about the whereabouts of the conference, but did not get a clear reply. Finally they referred him to some security official present who told him it was cancelled. My friend called Nazal’s assistant, who told him it was cancelled for “security reasons” without elaborating.

Rumours were circulating earlier that Nazzal was “banned” from giving the press conf and was returned to Lebanon on a plane, but it turned out to be untrue. Nazzal is still in Cairo.

UPDATE: Here is a dpa report by another friend, Jano Charbel:
Security forces cancel Hamas spokesman press conference in Cairo “for security reasons”
Cairo (dpa) – A Hamas spokesman’s press conference, scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Cairo’s Le Meridien Hotel was cancelled “for security reasons” reported journalists who went to attend the conference.
Officials from Egypt’s ministry of interior refused to comment as to why the press conference was cancelled.
The Lebanon-based Hamas representative, Mohammad Nazal, was scheduled to give a press conference, at 1pm at the Meridien Hotel in the Heliopolis district of Cairo, on the subject of Hezbollah’s recent military operations – including the capturing of two Israeli soldiers by the Lebanese Shiite resistance movement, which took place on Wednesday.
Rumors had circulated that the Hamas representative was prevented from entering the hotel and was put on a return flight to Lebanon. An aide to Nazal, denied these rumors and said that the press conference “was cancelled for security reasons” without providing any further details.

UPDATE: The conflicting reports continue. I received a phone call now from a journalist friend, saying actually Nazzal has left the country to Damascus in “unexplained circumstances.”