Archive: egypt

1st December 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
What to say about the fraudulent Egyptian elections? When I wrote about the rigging process last Sunday and said "There are indications this time that the government may have been too restrictive for its own good" in its efforts to suppress the opposition, I didn't expect it to be quite this bad.… Read more
28th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A minority of Egyptians – probably no more than a third of the 41 million who are registered to vote – will be going to the polls today in a parliamentary election where the ruling party has already made sure of winning by large majority. Talk of rigged elections usually conjures up images of… Read more
27th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A 30-year-old Egyptian is due to appear before a military court on Monday, accused of "disclosing information about the Egyptian armed forces" on Facebook. He could face five years in jail if convicted. Ahmed Hassan Bassyouni set up a Facebook group called "Conscription and Mobilisation Department… Read more
23rd November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Just five days to go before Egypt's parliamentary election, but I can't work up much enthusiasm to write about it. The whole thing is a bad joke. For a general overview, I'd recommend this assessment by Jack Shenker on his blog. "Welcome to the bizarre world of Egypt’s parliamentary elections," he… Read more
15th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
More information has emerged about Kareem Amer, the Egyptian blogger who remains in detention despite completing a four-year jail sentence last Friday. The Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) says he was transferred from Burj al-Arab prison on Saturday to the State… Read more
8th November 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
In 2007, a 22-year-old Egyptian blogger known as Kareem Amerwas given a four-year prison sentence for "spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country’s reputation", "incitement to hate Islam" and "defaming the president of the republic". He was the first Egyptian to be… Read more
31st October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Following the court ruling in Egypt a week ago that state security forces must be removed from university campuses, it's not surprising to see that practical objections to the ruling are now being raised. Mohamed Tawfiq Abul Naga, one of the founders of the university guard squads at Cairo… Read more
26th October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
In Egypt the state has a virtual monopoly on data, which effectively stops public debate about government decisions. Read more at Comment Is Free ... Posted by Brian Whitaker, 26 October 2010.
23rd October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A group of Egyptian professors yesterday won an historic legal battle to have state security forces removed from university campuses – though it is doubtful whether the government will abide by the ruling. Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper says human rights organisations welcomed the decision by the… Read more
22nd October 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
In what must surely be the least credible news of the day, a senior official of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party announced that Hosni Mubarak will be the party's candidate in next year's presidential election. Another six-year-term would take the ailing leader up to the age of 89. The… Read more