VOL. IV NO. 25, November 21-December 04, 2008

The Blogfather Gets Caught

Outspoken Egyptian blogger Mohammed Adel, 20, has been arrested by Egyptian police after a raid on his Cairo home on November 25. EuropeNews reports that 40 police officers seized dozens of books and CDs from Adel's home.

Gamal Eid, director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), complained to Afrique en ligne that "an enormous security force and special forces took into custody a young blogger who owns nothing other than a keyboard and a blog...This is the law of the state of emergency which has ruled Egyptians for 27 years."

Eid warned that Adel's arrest is further proof of an Egyptian crackdown on internet bloggers that began last year with the imprisonment of a blogger who was found guilty of insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak.

According to Will Rasmussen at Reuters, Adel was apprehended following criticism of the government and after a display of support for Hamas on his "Dead" blog. Additionally, Adel's blog contains a picture of the founder of the banned Islamist opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood, images of Hamas fighters, and a burning American flag.

Confusion remains about Adel's current whereabouts. Mustafa Radwan for IkhwanWeb reports that Adel's relatives have filed two complaints to the Prosecutor General to ascertain Adel's location. The Interior Ministry has denied being aware of the case.

The blogger's lawyer, Hassan Karim, has accused the Interior Ministry of kidnapping Adel with no prior reason and concealing his place of imprisonment. In response to Adel's disappearance, dozens of bloggers and members of the April 6 movement (PR_IV. 9: Internet Censors and Champions) held a sit-in in front of the Office of the General Prosecutor.

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