Year: 2008

Mubarak’s NDP-dominated parliament passes law prohibiting demos in places of worship

Posted on By 3arabawy

From the Daily News Egypt:

The People’s Assembly’s (PA) legislative committee passed a new draft law filed by the government forbidding demonstrations inside places of worship, Hamdy Hassan, PA member affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood told Daily News Egypt.
However, Hassan believes that the new law is “against freedom of expression,” adding that the Egyptian government regularly puts restrictions on freedom of expression through any possible means.
“The government does not even allow protests inside closed meetings between political parties,” Hassan said.
The law, according to Hassan, was drafted specifically to disallow “the demonstrations that usually take place after Friday prayers especially inside Al-Azhar mosque.”
Hafez Abu Saeda, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), echoed Hassan’s opinion. He told Daily News Egypt that the new law “certainly limits freedom of expression.”
“Our stand on this law as a human rights organization is clear as we are against any law or regulation that goes against the public’s right to stage a peaceful protest expressing their point of view as long as those protests do not involve assaults on any private or public property or individuals,” Abu Saeda said.
He added that the government failed to provide “a justification for why it came up with such a law.”
“For so many years Al-Azhar mosque was the place where many peaceful protests were staged against events that took place both inside and outside Egypt,” Abu Saeda explained, adding that this law is aimed at putting a stop to Al-Azhar demonstrations.

In other news, Al-Masry Al-Youm leaked clauses of the new Counterterrorism Law to be enacted by the Parliament. And what’s the Muslim Brotherhood leaders’ reaction, in the midst of the police crackdowns and military tribunals? Ali Greisha, a leading MB member said that “the law would not affect MB work and called on President Mubarak to start a truce with this group, saying that MB would promise not to challenge the regime in return for liberty of movement and expression.”

Mr. Greisha wake up and spare us this crap. Hosni is not gonna listen to you, as he never listened to you before nor to anyone else. Hosni listens only to his masters in Washington DC and Europe or when he feels he’s about to be dethroned by street pressure. So please stop this regime-ass-kissing parade and start mobilizing in the streets.

FREE KHALED

Posted on By 3arabawy

That’s horrible news. Khaled Hamza, the editor of the Ikhwan Web, the English website of the Muslim Brothers, has been arrested by Mubarak’s Gestapo in Nasr City.

Khaled is one of the most impressive MB activists I’ve come across, and a strong proponent of reaching out to the secular forces in the country as well as encouraging the current wave of blogging by the young MB activists.

My unconditional solidarity goes to Khaled and all the MB detainees. I hope he would be released as soon as possible. My thoughts go out to his wife and children.

UPDATE: Here’s a report in English from Ikhwan Web:

An Egyptian state security force, backed by a huge number of special forces, arrested Khaled Hamza, the manager of the Cairo office of Ikhwanweb, the Muslim Brotherhood”s official English web site. Hamza was arrested in a street in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City, two minutes after meeting Violit Dagher, the chairperson of the Paris-based Arab Commission for Human Rights. Dr. Dagher is currently in Cairo to continue her campaign protesting against sending Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders to the military tribunal.
Doing a huge part of the file of the case of the MB leaders standing before the military tribunal, Ikhwanweb”s Cairo office has recently witnessed huge activities. To give the true picture of the case of the detained MB leaders, topped by engineer Khairat Al-Shater the second deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood along with 39 MB leaders are tried, the Cairo office carried out a huge media coverage and activities which helped international, regional and local human rights organizations and activists get acquainted with the case as a whole.
Engineer Hamza played an essential role in showing this military trial to the international public opinion wit his articles and reports which were published in several international periodicals.
Hamza”s detention comes only a few days before the military tribunal holds its sentencing session to issue a ruling on the yearlong case. His detention aims to silence independent media voices from exposing the tyrannical and repressive practices of the regime, observers said.

UPDATE: Just spoke with Moneim. Khaled was taken to Mubarak’s State Security Police’s notorious HQ in Lazoughly for interrogation, then later transferred to the Prosecutor’s office who sentenced him to 15 days in the Tora Prison. We still don’t know which part of the Gulag he was taken to, but Moneim thinks it’s Mazra’et Tora.