Photo by Filipe Ferreira
25 years old Maikel Nabil became the first prisoner of conscience in post-Mubarak Egypt for writing that the army which came on power after the ex dictartor is corrupted and keeps on with his repressive policies.
Several shadows are cast on hte Egyptian revolution. On Tahrir Square an American journalist was gang-raped by people shouting "Jew!". Female demonstrators have been submitted to "virginity tests". Now there is this case which according to Nabil's lawyer Adel Ramadan "represents a warning for all journalists, bloggers and human rights activists that their protest can lead them straight to military jail".
The Egyptian blogger is accused of insulting the military apparatus and spreading false information about the armed forces. The spokeswoman of the Mid-East and North-Africa branch of Human Rights Watch Leah Whitson said it is a "puzzling episode for a government in the post-Mubarak transition".
Egypt: Blogger's 3-year sentence a blow to free speech, Human Rights Watch, 11 April 2011