Egyptian activist jailed for defying prosecutor
Cairo: Egyptian activist Alaa Abd-el-Fatth,
who has been accused of inciting violence during an October 9 demonstration by Coptic Christians here, has been jailed for 15 days.
He refused to cooperate with military prosecution during
questioning and was awarded 15 days in prison for his
attitude.
More than 20 protesters, mainly Christians, were killed during the October 9 Maspero incident.
Alaa refused to cooperate in the military investigation
noting that army is an involved party and hence cannot be the
judge.
"Military prosecution is not the concerned body he should
be facing as he is a civilian and is to be questioned by a
civilian prosecution," he said.
Alaa does not deny he was present during the Maspero
protest.
He wrote a moving column about it in the independent daily
Al-Shuruq accusing the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF)
of masterminding the attack on Christians and holding it
accountable for the deaths.
Currently, 28 Egyptians are held by the military police in
relation to these incidents.
Alaa's prosecution has gained remarkable attention both
inside Egypt and abroad as he was one of the very first online
activists on the political scene since 2006 and was ranked by
Forbes magazine as one of the most active 100 Arabs on
twitter.
Activists in Egypt have been facing military tribunals as
the SCAF remains the de facto ruler of the country.
Meanwhile, Tunisian activists today held a protest in
front of the Egyptian embassy in Tunisia objecting to his
trial.