Egyptian activist goes free
Amnesty International Ireland has welcomed the release of an Egyptian Bedouin blogger and human rights defender who has spent almost three years in prison.
Musaad Suliman Hassan Hussein, known by his pen name Musaad Abu Fagr, was detained in December 2007 in Sinai, Egypt after protests in the region.
The protests were organised by Musaad Abu Fagr when plans were announced by the authorities to demolish thousands of homes near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Despite numerous appeals and orders for his release, the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior enforced the novelist’s continued detention.
He was accused of inciting others to protest, resisting the authorities and assaulting public officers during the exercise of their duties.
”Musaad Abu Fagr's release is welcome news but the Egyptian authorities must now release all other prisoners of conscience, with many still languishing in administrative detention solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme of Amnesty International.
Prisoner of conscience
The activist’s wife Shaimaa insists that her husband did not break any law or the Constitution.
”On the contrary, he always told me when I visited him in prison that he did what was dictated by his conscience.
”All he wanted was to make the voices of marginalized people who are treated as second-class citizens heard and their problems known.
”He called for their rights to be upheld through seminars and conferences, through his political activities and through his articles and work as a writer and a novelist.”
As a result of unsanitary conditions, Musaad Abu Fagr developed an abscess on his foot in Borg al-Arab prison, where he was held for a year.
The prison authorities provided no medical treatment but a fellow inmate, a doctor, performed the surgery without anaesthetic.
He recovered from this ordeal thanks to his family and lawyer, who brought him medication to prevent infection.
Musaad Abu Fagr continued to be imprisoned, more than 18 months after an order was given to release him.
"Amnesty International's support is one of the reasons that I was released," he said after his release on Tuesday (13 July). "Your messages gave me a sense of solidarity.”
