Egyptian blogger missing
p2p news / p2pnet: Egyptian law student Abdolkarim Nabil Seliman has disappeared after being arrested for alleged anti-government and anti-Islamic blogs.
"A group of seven police officers knocked at the door at 3 a.m. and asked about Abdolkarim,” his mother, told the Associated Press.
"She said the police searched the house, confiscated Seliman books and copies of his articles, which he posts to his blog," says AP. " ‘Since then, I didn’t see him,’ she said, adding that his brother learned from police that Seliman was taken to a detention cell on Wednesday."
AP says the student, 21, belongs to a pious Muslim family and studies at Al-Azhar, "the world’s highest seat of learning for Sunni Muslims".
Blogger Malik Moustafa, "closely followed Seliman’s detention and accused followers of the fundamentalist Islamic Salafi movement in Alexandria of being behind the arrest," the story says, continuing:
"Seliman was detained three days after posting an article to his blog commenting on the violent riots that erupted when thousands of security forces clashed with streams of angry Muslim worshippers in front of a Coptic Christian church over a play put on by Christians deemed offensive to Islam."
Seliman had also posted several articles blatantly attacking Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak regime and describing it as a "symbol of dictatorship,” adds AP, pointing out this was the "first security crackdown on an Egyptian blogger".
As well as studying law, Seliman is a women’s-rights activist and a correspondent for Copts United, says Mediachannel.
"He is now on his way to an unknown detention," it says.
"Three Egyptian bloggers visited Abdolkarim’s family. The family attributed the state security raid to his writings, although it was not clear if his blogging is directly related. According to his brother, Abdolkarim’s relations with Islamist Fundamentalists in his neighborhood of Moharram Bek, Alexandria, are tense. It is possible that the fundamentalists have filed a security complaint that led to his detention."
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See:-
Associated Press – Egyptian blogger arrested, November 4, 2005
Mediachannel – Egyptian Blogger taken in Detention, November 3, 2005
November 4th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
Other Egyptian bloggers are tracking down his whereabouts and are trying to find out what exactly are going on – e.g. if it was because he criticized radical Islamists or the government that he was detained – it is the first time Egypt’s state security is cracking down on a blogger. Needless to say, we all worry what will happen next. For a round up with all the links to the recent blog activities in Egypt, see my latest post: http://missmabrouk.blogspot.com/2005/11/anti-islamic-blogger-detained-missing.html
thank you/
“miss mabrouk”
November 6th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
Dad ; do not blame me now that I am a very bad son . You are the person who suppose to be blamed . I have been prohibitted to think of my own . I was not allowed to learn or even to read , or to speak of my mind . I had to speak your language and express your believes even it is 100% wrong . I am not the only person who is in this situation , but the most percentage of the country pobulation in this situation , it is in a prison for a wrong belive . Open the windows for the fresh air to come in , for other ideas , books , opinions and beliefes to know about it . there is no harm to learn if I have the wright believe . I am not going to loose any thing to know the other people’s ideas or beliefs . Do not think I am talking about democracy only , I AM TALKING ABOUT HUMANITY AND DOMACRACY .