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Our Reports
The Internet In the Arab World
A New Space of Repression?
No Rules, No Limits
United Arab Emirates:
Freedom of expression is missing despite a decision banning imprisonment for press crimes
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Internet activist Esraa Abdelfattah arrested under emergency law
The president is urged to stop the brutality of the Ministry of the Interior
Cairo on April 22, 2008
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information stated today that the President himself should intervene for the release of the Internet activist Esraa Abdelfattah detained by the Ministry of Interior under the emergency law, following a decision by prosecutors to release her on April 14, 2008.
It is becoming a repeated act in the last few days for The Ministry of the Interior to circumvent judicial decisions issued by courts and prosecutors to release the activists accused of participating in the call for a peaceful strike on the sixth of April. Ministry of the Interior expanded the use of the emergency law and excessive force against dozens of young people who were not accused of exercising terrorism or violence, but merely used the Internet to call for democracy.
Because of the expansion of the Ministry of Interior in arrest campaigns against political activists and Internet activists, the Egyptian prisons, as well as illegal places of detention such as the Central Security camps, are now full of such activists, and therefore it is difficult to foresee the actual numbers of detainees.
Gamal Eid the Executive Director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said "the interference of the President himself for the release of these prisoners is becoming necessary after the Ministry of Interior has gone maniac, as clearly evidenced by the arrest of a girl under the emergency law on the backdrop of her mere participation in the call for a peaceful strike on the 'FaceBook' website ".
Moreover, the Arabic Network condemned the detention of the university student Bilal Diabwho was arrested by the security bodies for a few hours because of his call for the Prime Minister to release the Internet activists during a meeting with the students of Cairo University yesterday attended by the Prime Minister, which confirms the severity of the security bodies in the face of freedom of opinion and expression, even if it were an opinion of a student in a meeting that was mainly devoted to a dialogue between the Prime Minister and students.
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