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| (Photo: Maikel Nabil) |
The
Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad was one of the first people to be
criticized by the military government following the fall of President Mubarak.
He has been imprisoned since March 2011. While international demands for his
release get ever louder, in Egypt he is subjected to widespread abuse, mostly
in the form of insults and accusations. So what has he done?
There are
several important differences between Maikel Nabil and other demonstrators:
firstly he has been critical of the army since early 2011, when almost everyone
else was still cheering the role of the army during the uprising. And secondly,
the most significant differences: he is an atheist and he wants peace with
Israel.
"How
strange that there are people who defend Maikel Nabil," said a girl on a
blog. "Has even betrayal become a personal freedom?" That touches on
a fundamental question: If someone has an opinion which is totally opposed to
the majority, does that mean he has less rights? That he should be put in
prison by a military court and sentenced without a fair trial, abused and
treated as a madman?
Critical
articles
In a photo,
the blogger is seen wearing a striped shirt and with a sign in his hand:
"The people don't want the military to hijack the revolution." It
could have been a random protester in Tahrir Square; protesters in Cairo have
been chanting such slogans in recent weeks. But Maikel Nabil Sanad was already
doing that much earlier. During and after the revolution of January 2011 he
continued writing articles critical of the military on his blog, having
previously refused military service. Following his last piece, entitled
"Army and people were never united", the military took him from his
home on 28 March 2011.
In April a
military court sentenced Nabil to three years in prison, a penalty that was
reduced to two years in December. He went on hunger strike for four months and
lived on fruit juice and milk until he ended his hunger strike on New Year's
Eve.
Amnesty
International
There was a
major international outcry: Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders sent an
open letter to the UN, Amnesty International drew attention to the case, and
support came from all over the world. In the Netherlands the Egyptian blogger
was, among other things, given the approval of Ronny Naftaniel, director of the
Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel.
Doesn't
such a clear endorsement from a pro-Israeli organisation work against Maikel
Nabil's best interests? "I've considered that," says Mr Naftaniel.
"He's not popular because of his views, that's clear. But he himself has
said that my support is important. His views on Israel are part of his view of
life. "
Symbol
In Egypt, a
group of activists have organized demonstrations for the release of Maikel
Nabil. To them, his imprisonment symbolises the plight of almost 12,000
Egyptian citizens who have had to face a military tribunal since the fall of
Mubarak.
"The
views of Maikel have certainly influenced the opinion of the people," says
his brother Mark, "but they understand that words are one thing, and
condemning people for their opinion is something else." Yet it seems that
for many people his controversial views are sufficient reason to deny him any
rights. He doesn't get the approval of many ordinary Egyptians. "He
doesn't deserve jail, but the death penalty," is one of the comments on a
YouTube video from Elmokhalestv that promises to show "the truth about
Maikel Nabil".
Israeli
friends
It is a
truth that the blogger has never concealed: he favours peace with Israel. He
refused military service because, amongst other things, he didn't want to fight
Israeli soldiers who were also conscripts. He also asked his 'Israeli friends'
to support the Egyptian revolution, and he even translated part of his website
into Hebrew.
Egyptian
state media seized on his pro-Israeli statements as a reason to portray a
demonstration in his support as a 'Zionist march'. Even in prison he encounters
hostility. At Nabil's request, human rights lawyer Amir Salem recently
submitted a complaint after a fellow prisoner attacked him and got the support
of prison staff.
"A
revolutionary, atheist pro-Israeli critic of the army made him the perfect
candidate to pave the road of oppression against bloggers, which ensured that
their sentencing would be met with minimum opposition from the public,"
writes blogger Mina Naguib. What applies to Nabil also seems to apply to a
lesser extent to other bloggers with different points of view: when someone who
is convicted turns out to be an atheist or makes too liberal statements, public
support is limited.
No concessions
Nabil shows
no willingness to make concessions. He makes no attempt to disguise his radical
vision for Egypt in the hope of more lenient treatment. "Maikel will
soften his views when he is mistaken, but as long as he thinks he's right, he's
free to say whatever he wants," says his brother Mark.
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