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Electronic Frontier Foundation

Egyptian Blogger/Developer Still Held in Prison 28 Days After His Release Date (eff.org) 51

In 2004 Alaa Abd El Fattah answered questions from Slashdot's readers about organizing the first-ever Linux installfest in Egypt.

In 2014 he was arrested for organizing poltical protests without requesting authorization, according to Wikipedia, and then released on bail — but then sentenced to five years in prison upon retrial. He was released in late March of 2019, but then re-arrested again in September by the National Security Agency, convicted of "spreading fake news" and jailed for five years...

Wikipedia describes Abd El-Fattah as an "Egyptian-British blogger, software developer and a political activist" who has been "active in developing Arabic-language versions of software and platforms." But this week an EFF blog post noticed that his released date had recently passed — and yet he was still in prison: It's been 28 days since September 29, the day that should have seen British-Egyptian blogger, coder, and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah walk free. Egyptian authorities refused to release him at the end of his sentence, in contradiction of the country's own Criminal Procedure Code, which requires that time served in pretrial detention count toward a prison sentence. [Human Rights Watch says Egyptian authorities are refusing to count more than two years of pretrial detention toward his time served. Amnesty International has also called for his release.] In the days since, Alaa's family has been able to secure meetings with high-level British officials, including Foreign Secretary David Lammy, but as of yet, the Egyptian government still has not released Alaa...

Alaa deserves to finally return to his family, now in the UK, and to be reunited with his son, Khaled, who is now a teenager. We urge EFF supporters in the UK to write to their MP to place pressure on the UK's Labour government to use their power to push for Alaa's release.

Last month the EFF wrote:: Over 20 years ago Alaa began using his technical skills to connect coders and technologists in the Middle East to build online communities where people could share opinions and speak freely and privately. The role he played in using technology to amplify the messages of his fellow Egyptians — as well as his own participation in the uprising in Tahrir Square — made him a prominent global voice during the Arab Spring, and a target for the country's successive repressive regimes, which have used antiterrorism laws to silence critics by throwing them in jail and depriving them of due process and other basic human rights.

Alaa is a symbol for the principle of free speech in a region of the world where speaking out for justice and human rights is dangerous and using the power of technology to build community is criminalized...

Egyptian Blogger/Developer Still Held in Prison 28 Days After His Release Date

Comments Filter:
  • Utilizing technological sophisticated weapons can subjugate a populous easily with impunity.
    • Utilizing technological sophisticated weapons can subjugate a populous easily with impunity.

      He was subjugated with a fucking prison cell.

      Also known as the ‘“sophisticated” tech of dictators thousands of years old.

  • Jail = hell (Score:5, Informative)

    by sirv ( 4898197 ) on Saturday October 26, 2024 @02:23PM (#64895985)
    I was once in jail for 1 month, I can tell you - it's hell. After 3 weeks I was losing my mind. Don't do anything that gets your into jail.
    • by Rujiel ( 1632063 )
      Yeah, don't be a Mubarak supporter or a member of the Muslim Brotherhood when the US is arming your military dictatorship after a coup like in 2011. And don't do any of that dangerous journalism either. Very relevant advice that undoubtedly deserves +5 with no second thought
    • by rrab ( 10365852 )
      I was in county jail for 12 months.. pre-trial detention during COVID. That amount of time is easier in a state prison.
      Traded food, read thick books, converted swastikas into pinwheels, folded origami cranes, destroyed bibles.. I kept myself busy.
      In my cell, I did wall art with ink from bendy pens (including an :awesome: face), and carved antifa slogans into the paint, with brass pen tips.
      Like I overheard someone say at Shelton, the processing center for Washington State, that released me, "one year is just
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Just another day in a place like that. You take your chances when you speak up.

    Moral of the story, as always, is that you don't argue with anyone that has a bigger gun than you have

  • by mysidia ( 191772 ) on Saturday October 26, 2024 @05:11PM (#64896287)

    Ignoring the pre-trial detention time is probably just an excuse suggesting the powers that be are not satisfied to let them go yet; the next time the release date comes up, they are bound to come up with More charges or more excuses. Perhaps the authorities can cause something to happen in the prison and frame him for it thus adding to the time, etc.

    They can likely construct as many bogus charges as they want the next time release looms close. Such is the way with all poltiical prisoners.

  • Kemal Ataturk killed many of the intellectuals who supported his overthrow of the Ottomans. They are professional agitators, who are a threat to whomever is power (and can't / won't work a normal job). I can't feel sorry for Alaa Abd El Fattah, even if he is a Linux user.
     

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