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Related: About this forumAtheist and pro-Israel, Maikel Nabil tests free speech in Egypt
A year ago this week, Maikel Nabil became the first Egyptian blogger to be arrested solely for his opinion. Now released, he talks about his fight for one of the key principles of democracy.
By Kristen Chick, Correspondent
March 29, 2012
Cairo
Maikel Nabil's views are controversial in Egypt in almost every way his open atheism, his support for gay rights, and especially his support for Israel.
But it was his opposition to the military that made him the first Egyptian blogger to be imprisoned for his opinions after the uprising that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak.
The rail-thin blogger, a pacifist, had become a thorn in the Egyptian Army's side well before Egyptians took to the streets en masse last year by publicly refusing mandatory military service.
He started a campaign against conscription on his blog, where he also posted poetry and nonpolitical musings.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0329/Atheist-and-pro-Israel-Maikel-Nabil-tests-free-speech-in-Egypt
Jim__
(14,077 posts)He sounds like he knows what he is doing. Good luck to him.
LeftishBrit
(41,208 posts)Good luck to him - and to all Egyptians for a better and freer future.
onager
(9,356 posts)Jebus! Even the laziest scribe nowadays should be able to use Google and Wikipedia.
The first Egyptian blogger arrested "solely for his opinion" was Kareem Amer (full name Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman Amer).
He was arrested in 2005 for insulting Islam and Pres. Hosni Mubarak, among other insultees.
Amer was tried in 2007 and spent 3 years in prison, finally being released in November 2010.
I was living in Alexandria, Egypt when Amer was arrested and tried. At his trial, his OWN FATHER said he should get the death penalty for insulting Islam. (Amer wrote on his blog that the Koran was written by ordinary human beings.)
Even the mostly neutered Egyptian media covered Amer's case, which was also taken up by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. It was huge, and I'm surprised it didn't even rate a mention in that article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Amer
Jim__
(14,077 posts)Even with google and wikipedia, we still have to do some thinking.
onager
(9,356 posts)"A year ago this week, Maikel Nabil became the first Egyptian blogger to be arrested solely for his opinion."
rug
(82,333 posts)He's just a poseur.
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,208 posts)Amer is a very brave man, too. And his father is either a lunatic or plain scum; no religion is an excuse for seeking the murder of your own child.