Reporters Sans Frontières

Published on 1 April 2009

الإفراج عن المدوّن ضياء الدين جاد بعد سبعة أسابيع من الاحتجاز

Reporters Without Borders hails the release of cyber-dissident Dia’Eddin Gad, who was arrested at his home in the Nile delta province of Gharbiyah on 6 February because of the views he had expressed in his blog. He was freed on 27 March from Katta prison, northwest of Cairo.

“Free expression is in the process of disappearing in Egypt,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Dia’Eddin Gad is an ordinary student who posted his views on a range of subjects online. His arrest was illegal and we condemn the treatment he received while detained. We call on the authorities to explain the precise reasons for his abduction by the security forces.”

Aged 22, Gad was taken from his home by police who drove away with him to an unknown location. Lawyers representing the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) had to complain to public prosecutor Abdel Majid Mahmoud in order to get the authorities to say where he was being held. According to the judicial authorities, Gad was arrested under the state of emergency law.

During prison interrogation sessions, he was accused of insulting President Hosni Mubarak. While held, he was put in solitary confinement and deprived of light. The authorities suggested that he and his family should join the National Democratic Party (the ruling party since 1981) in order to facilitate his release.

In a note sent to HRInfo, Gad wrote: “An officer threatened me during interrogation, saying: ‘All you need is a spade, a hole and a soldier to bury you. But for the time being I am just going to strip you naked, give you electric shocks and put you in a freezer.’ I did not reply. As a result, officers deprived me of sleep by making me stand for two days. When I continued to remain silent, they beat me [...] They said they were State Security officers and did not take orders from the courts or prosecutors.”

Gad began keep his blog, called “Voice in Anger” (http://soutgadeb.blogspot.com), in January. In his blog entries, he criticised the Egyptian government’s position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and described himself as “an Egyptian citizen who loves his county and wishes it and its people a long life.”

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders deplores the fact that a verdict has been postponed for the third time in blogger Tamer Mabrouk’s appeal against his conviction for allegedly libelling an Egyptian company, Trust Chemicals, in a June 2008 blog entry accusing the company of dumping hazardous waste in Lake Manzalah and the Suez Canal. As a result of a suit brought by the company, Mabrouk was fined 2,500 Egyptian pounds (340 euros) on 20 January. The next hearing has been set for 28 April.