Police free award-winning blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah

Blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah was released today at about 14:00 GMT from the police station in which he had been held since yesterday. His wife said he spent 24 hours standing in a small cell. She said he was also beaten, but she was not sure if it was by his cellmates or police officers. The authorities had not intended to free him until tomorrow. It seems they brought his release forward because his family and friends were demonstrating outside the police station. The public prosecutor yesterday ordered that bloggers Mohamed Sharkawy and Karim El-Shaer should be held for another two weeks. ------------------- 20.06.06 Award-winning blogger about to be released Blogger, Alaa Abd El-Fatah, is due to be released in the evening of 21 June or the morning of 22 June at the latest, his wife said. She did not know if her husband still faced charges. The prosecutor decided on his release on 20 June. Alaa Abd El-Fatah was arrested on 7 May 2006 while he was taking part in a demonstration in front of a Cairo court. He was accused of “illegal gathering” (in violation of the emergency law), “obstructing traffic”, “insulting President Mubarak” and “insulting police officers during his arrest”. Alaa Abd El-Fatah is co-author of Manal and Alaa's Bit Bucket, jointly awarded a 2005 best blog prize by Reporters Without Borders and German media Deutsche Welle. ----------------------- 6.06.2006 Authorities release two bloggers, hold three others for two more weeks Reporters Without Borders noted the release on 4 June of bloggers Malek Mostafa and Asmaa Ali. Mostafa was arrested on 26 April while Ali was arrested on 7 May. The authorities have meanwhile ordered that three other bloggers - Alaa Abd El-Fatah, Mohamed Sharkawy and Karim El-Shaer - should be held for two more weeks. All five were arrested for taking part in demonstrations. ----------------------------- 11.05.2006 Support for detained award-winning blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah Reporters Without Borders voiced support today for blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah and his family following El-Fatah's arrest along with 10 other people while demonstrating outside a Cairo court on 7 May. Three of the 10 have since been released. El-Fatah has been charged with illegal assembly (in violation of the state of emergency law), blocking traffic, insulting President Mubarak, and verbal abuse of police officers at the time of his arrest. Reporters Without Borders called for his release in a letter to the Egyptian authorities on 9 May on the grounds that the charges do not warrant his being kept in custody. Around 70 government opponents and dissidents have been arrested since the start of a wave protest in April that began when two judges called for the complete independence of Egypt's courts and an investigation into the last presidential election. The detainees include five other bloggers who were arrested while taking part in demonstrations : Malek Mostafa, Mohammed Adel (freed on 27 May), Mohammed Sharkawy, Karim El Shaer and Asmaa Ali. El-Fatah is the co-author of Manal and Alaa's Bit Bucket, a blog that won a prize in a competition organised by Reporters Without Borders and the German media Deutsche Welle last October. ------------- Create your blog with Reporters without borders: www.rsfblog.org