Amnesty says freedom of expression eroding in Egypt
14 Nov 2006 15:44:00 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds prevention of women's protest, from 13th paragraph) CAIRO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The arrest of a blogger who ran afoul of religious authorities and the jailing of a prominent opposition politician show freedom of speech is on the decline in Egypt, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The London-based rights watchdog said it was concerned over the jailing of opposition parliamentarian Talaat Sadat, a nephew of the late President Anwar Sadat, after he was convicted in a military court of insulting the armed forces. Amnesty was also worried by the recent arrest of Arabic blogger Abdel Kareem Suleiman, a 22-year-old aspiring human rights lawyer arrested earlier this month for penning articles critical of Islam and the government. "These cases represent a further erosion of freedom of expression in Egypt," Amnesty said in a statement. "Amnesty International considers Talaat Sadat to be a prisoner of conscience imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release," it added. Amnesty said it was concerned that Suleiman "may also be a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression of his views about Islam". Talaat Sadat was sentenced to a year in jail last month after saying he believed President Sadat's 1981 assassination was the result of an international conspiracy in which senior Egyptian military officials at the time were involved. An Islamist militant was convicted and ultimately executed for shooting Sadat as he watched a military parade. Talaat Sadat, one of two opposition politicians who are currently imprisoned after having parliamentary immunity stripped, later said his comments were not intended to insult the military establishment. Several Egyptian human rights organisations have said the decision to put Sadat on trial was a violation of the right to free speech. Verdicts in emergency military courts cannot generally be appealed. Blogger Suleiman, expelled this year from the Islamic al-Azhar University over accusations of blaspheming Islam, was arrested last week in Alexandria over writings that criticised al-Azhar's dominance in religious thought. Amnesty said Suleiman also sparked the ire of authorities for writings about sectarian strife in Alexandria last year. Egyptian police appear to have taken a tougher line against all forms of dissent and protest in recent months, especially against the opposotion Muslim Brotherhood. In central Cairo on Tuesday police detained four people at an aborted demonstration by women activists against sexual harrassment in the street, witnesses said. Plainclothes security men sealed off a cafe where about 40 women had gathered to prepare for their protest, the second of its kind since reports that crowds of young men attacked and groped women in the street on Oct. 23 and 24. They let them leave in small groups and dispersed them, but a few moved on to the steps of the nearby Journalists Syndicate, which have become one of few relatively safe places to protest. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Wright)
