Imprisoned Egyptian blogger Maikal Saned is escalating his hunger-strike, he was imprisoned for three years at the end of March for "spreading false information" and behaviour "insulting the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council or any State Authority, or the Army or the Courts".
Activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah - arrested on 30 October, for criticism of the army's conduct on the night of 9 October, when at least 27 people were killed during a Coptic Christian protest in Cairo and charged with "inciting violence against the army". It was announced today that he is being released . On a different kind of politics, I have not been able to find out the current status of a proposed case against Aliya Magda al-Mahdy and her boyfriend blogger Kareem Amer, accused of “violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam”. We recall also the release in the summer of Mohammed Adel, previously mentioned on this blog.Vignette: In this undated file photo, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, left and his wife Manal Hassan are seen in Cairo, Egypt. (AP /Nasser Nasser )
i know this is a bit off topic but as with other countrys in the middle east,i think we will have a mass exodus of christians from egypt over the next few years[just as we had from lebonon and iraq].
ReplyDeletechristians are being purged from their ancestral homes in the middle east on a biblical scale.i wonder what this holds for the protection of byzantine and other ancient sites in these countrys,or indeed for the care of antiquities in their museums.
kyri.
Is it not the case that Christians at the east end of the Mediterranean have been under one form of pressure or another since the 640s? Is it not the case that Muslims at the east end of the mediterranean have suffered ("streets running with blood"- type) at Christian hands too?
ReplyDeleteBut yes, given the unrest, I would say that Christian (Coptic/Byzantine) and Islamic items from the region should be on the Red List and the list of items collectors should have to show papers for.
of course,your right,the christians in the area are no angels.the 1982 massacres at sabra ans shatila by maronite christians of palestinians[with complicity from the israelis]is evidence of this but we are now witnessing demographic changes in the area not seen for centuries and with the rise of islamic fundamentalism its possible that future governments,would want to do to their antiquities,what the taliban done to theirs.
ReplyDeleteas a person whos parents are greek cypriot i have sympathy for the palestinian people,i know what its like to be bullied and occupied by a foreign country.
kyri.
ps no one is condoning the throwing of petrol bombs and any loss of ancient artifacts is tragic but if the military take up positions in these vulnerable places than they themselves put these buildings in danger.i know hawaas is no longer in the government,i never said he was but it does sound like he is trying to worm his way back in.
kyri.