From Egypt and Beyond: “23-year old blogger Diaa Eddin Gad was detained by Egyptian state security in front of his family’s house in a village outside Tanta on 6 February 2009. Michael Slackman reports for IHT: “Gad was seated at his computer working on his blog. His mother had just laid out lunch and his older sister was behind him studying for medical school. His phone rang, he walked outside, so as not to disturb his sister, and was jumped by four officers.”
One week later, the authorities still refused to say where he was beeing held, or why he was detained. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior told the IHT that “related bodies are examining his case,” describing the kidnapping and incommunicado detention as “regular procedure.” (Which is true of course, if you are working for a mafia).
According to the IHT, Gad was arrested after taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Cairo, organized by the liberal Wafd party, and he has also been described as a member of the Kifaya movement. He is the author of a blog called
Sawt Ghadib, or “angry voice”, where he has expressed support for the Palestinian struggle and criticism of the Egyptian regime for it’s participation in the siege of Gaza.
According to The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information “bloggers have become a major target of the police authorities in Egypt and all these assaults are committed outside the law or under the cloak of the emergency state. ANHRI demands that all defenders of freedom of expression join hands to bring an end to this abominable state of emergency.”
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Tags: case background, Diaa Gad
This entry was posted on February 14, 2009 at 9:45 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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February 15, 2009 at 9:36 am
[...] Diaa Eddin Gad – detained 6 Februari 2009 [...]
February 15, 2009 at 5:30 pm
[...] bloggers disappear here in cairo. supposedly they harm the ‘egyptian economy’. like diaa gad. “Gad was seated at his computer working on his blog. His mother had just laid out lunch and [...]
February 16, 2009 at 3:16 am
[...] same time, Phil also reminds us that not everyone has the privilege of international connections.Diaa Eddin Gad, an Egyptian blogger taken at the same time as Phil, is still being held. And so, we continue to [...]
February 25, 2009 at 5:53 pm
it is very sad and very frustrating when you read about innocent people being held for giving their support for the suffering of the people in Gaza! it is a shame that people have more rights in Europe and USA than in Muslim countries like Egypt. There have been numerous Solidarity demonstrations here in Europe but the Government and Police respect the peaceful demonstration because it was done to show solidarity for the Palestinian and was done peacefully! I just dont understand the Egyptian Government policy regardng this matter? Egypt is a Muslim country and the nearest country to Palestine and should show more concern and solidarity for Gaza but they were doing the opposite thing and worse than Israel! In fact inside Tel Aviv, there are few Solidarity demonstrations to support people of Gaza and non of them have been arrested by the police! At this moment there are about 100+ Solidarity Convoy from all over UK to Gaza by road and non of them have been caught because they show their solidarity for the people of Gaza!!! Egypt is not a democracy country but run by a dictator leader and practicing dictatorship!!!