Sup,
Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent blogger in Egypt was freed today after being held in custody for more than two months on charges that he was responsible for inciting a riot that led to the deaths of 27 people.
The Washington Examiner reports:
Alaa Abdel-Fattah’s father, Ahmed Seif, told The Associated Press his son would remain in custody for several more hours until the paperwork has been completed. He said his son has been banned from travel abroad.
Abdel-Fattah’s sister, activist Mona Seif, told the AP her brother was on his way to the Egyptian capital’s security headquarters where he would be freed later in the day.
The military has accused Abdel-Fattah of inciting the Christian protesters to attack the soldiers. He was also accused of stealing a military weapon, deliberately destroying military property and attacking security forces.
He denies the allegations.
His supporters dismissed the claims, saying the military was trying to silence a prominent critic and to deflect blame on its soldiers in the violence. Abdel-Fattah wrote in newspaper articles he smuggled out of jail that his arrest was motivated in large part by his insistence on autopsies to determine the cause of the protesters’ deaths.
Several of the victims were found to have been killed by being run over, according to activists.
Whether he incited the riot or not, this is a nice Christmas story that will hopefully end with Abdel-Fattah making love to his wife, Manal, and bringing joy to the hearts of at least a few of Wacky Bastard’s many readers! Merry Christmas, Y’all!