Anonymous’s Message. Follow “The Plan”

So I heard yesterday over one of the Egyptian national radio that the new law criminalizing any action that disrupts “production” in both the public and private sector has been confirmed.

I find this law to be absolutely ridiculous as it effectively means that workers will not be able to demonstrate, carry out strikes or sit-ins (basic rights that they should have as workers) without fear of being charged by the Public Prosecutor.

Egyptian activists, but not all Egyptians, have agreed that this is in clear breach of the promises that were made by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Dr. Essam Sharaf, Egypt’s current Prime Minister, to ensure that the Egyptian people will never again live in want of freedom; freedom to express their opinion without being detained or prosecuted and the freedom to demonstrate peacefully (amongst many others).

I have dedicated an episode of my podcast to this topic. [Please note that this is wholly in Arabic.]

My podcast feed is in the right-hand column of this blog. Those of you that use Facebook can find the podcast page here. In addition, you can subscribe to the podcast using this RSS Feed – found also at the main page to the podcast.

Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil was sentenced to three years in jail by a military court for publishing a blog post criticizing military actions/torture/detention. Apparently, as reported by the ANHRI (arabic statement), Maikel’s lawyers were tricked by the military court into thinking the session was adjourned and thus they left. The blogger was then sentenced by the court.

It is important to note that Mr. Nabil was not arrested from Tahrir square or for staying out after curfew; he was arrested from his home on charges specifically related to his blog post.

This is a sad day for the Egyptian Military who have promised freedom of speech and yet their actions do not seem to support their previous declarations.

This is a post by Just an Egyptian on the above. The post is in Arabic (mostly Egyptian colloquial) so apologies to all non-Arabic speakers/readers.

I love what he has to say.

To me, this is a post about the myth of accepting those of a different faith in Egypt and how the word moderate is now used by anyone who is not a card-carrying member of a religion-based organization or group.

Tentative list of those killed in the fight against the brutal, repressive Egyptian regime and its President since #jan25.

Two interesting things came to my knowledge in the past day. The first was through personal experience and the second was something that a friend told me about. They may be inconsequential to some (my friends certainly thought so), but I found them worthy of mention.

First thing

I went down to Maadi Grand Mall (located in Maadi, a Cairo neighborhood and where I live) yesterday to this internet cafe that I have been frequenting, on and off, for the last 7 years. It is the one of two internet cafes that I’ve been to in Maadi  (the second one foundered and closed down) and I’ve gotten to know the owner pretty well over the years.

This day, he had a paper sign on his glass door which said, roughly and in Arabic, “Under the instructions of the Ministry of Interior, all internet users must leave their data with the management.”

A few days before that, coincidentally, I was at the store when this dude comes in with a clipboard and talks to the store owner for 10 minutes. I heard him talk about a meeting and other things. When the man left, I turned to the store owner and asked him what that was about. He said the man was a plain-clothes officer from the Maadi Police Station who was informing him about this annual State Security (Amn EL Dawla) meeting of Internet Cafe owners.

And now this.

Oh, and when I asked him if this paper sign was related to the meeting, he said yes… and  that it was State Security that gave him the instructions. He also said not to worry about it and that nothing will come of it.

Second Thing

A friend of mine just came back from a trip to Lebanon and she told me that they now give them little slips of paper on the plane, before landing, asking them to fill in how much foreign currency they have, how much Egyptian currency they have amongst other things. Apparently, you aren’t allowed to be bringing in any gift that is worth more than $1,500 too. Also, they’ve gotten quite uptight about letting young males of military age that have not yet completed military service from leaving the country unless it’s for a medical reason or they’re visiting their parents who are outside of the country.

They are required, it being Egypt, to provide tons of documents proving these claims.

I now know for sure that I won’t be going to that internet cafe to use the internet. I cannot explain the psychological effect of knowing that whatever I do on the net can be traced back to me, even if I don’t want it to be. That day I went, I was just checking my email accounts… but still, it’s the “Big Brother” feeling.

Hello. We’re here. We know what you’re doing. Ha ha ha. You won’t get away with it, whatever it is.

I’ve been told by friends that this was already in effect in various other neighborhoods around Cairo… that may be so, but this is definitely a first for Maadi. What this means to me is that State Security are spreading their tentacles and giving us healthy doses of good, old fashioned totalitarianism.

So I discovered lately that I was gravely mistaken in accusing, or even thinking that, the Government of Egypt follows traditional centralization techniques when it comes to power, as per the unwritten laws of authoritarian governments.

Why?

Hossam El-Hamalawy discusses the issue of Egyptian Security Forces apprehending, incarcerating and torturing leftist activists of El-Arish (Capital of the governorate of Northern Sinai).

3arabawy Links:

The Story of the Arrests

EOHR comments

More citizens tortured

I’m amazed at how security forces in this country find new ways to inflict pain upon the general population whilst spending truckloads of money on maintaining their army of security personnel (who far exceed the number of Egyptians in the Army – conscripts included) and yet are completely unable to provide adequate services to the public… in any and every way.

I found the whole thing quite peculiar; there are enough activists; leftists, rightists and anything-ists in Cairo to keep all Egyptian security gleefully occupied for months… at the very least. It’s almost like some SOB from some Security agency got transfered to Sinai and wanted to feel at home.

Or maybe Sinai security felt left out? OR they could be, like, trying to please someone. Is it promotion time for them?

Kudos to you Hossam for covering this.

My good friend Ahmed El Droubi has been released!

Thank Goodness. You've been missed Droubster!

Ahmed El-Sharqawi and Karim El Sha’er, two recently released activists with Youth for Change, have been abducted and detained from Abdel Khaleq Tharwat Street in downtown Cairo by plain clothes security agents.

The two were taken to Qasr El-Nil Police Station after their arrest. Inside the station, security agents took turns torturing the two young activists by severely beating them. Those agents then abused Sharqawi by inserting an object up his anus.

The two have been referred to the State Security Prosecutor’s office in Heliopolis (a Cairo neighbourhood). Their lawyer has managed to see them. The last thing known is that the two detainees refused to be interrogated, demanding medical examination by forensic authorities to document their injuries and the abuses carried out against them.

The two detainees have submitted official requests to that effect but that cannot happen before saturday (probably since Friday is the one unified official holiday in Egypt). Sharqawi and Sha’er also asked to be examined by a doctor, who was present, but their request was refused by the Prosecutor who also refused to have them transferred to a hospital.

Picture of Sharqawi (on the 25th) protesting for the release of the detainees.