Egypt: Blogger Released, But Concerns Persist

An Egyptian military court has removed blogger Ahmed Mostafa‘s case from its list of hearings, effectively ending the 20-year old student’s short-lived trial. His official release from custody should be forthcoming.

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information commended the military tribunal for its “perfectly wise” decision, adding that “We hope that the Egyptian government will take other positive steps and release bloggers imprisoned under emergency law.” Similarly leery of the emergency law’s sweeping powers, Freedom House called upon the Egyptian government to end the 29-year-old act that enables “indefinite detention and trials of civilians in military courts.”

Elsewhere in Egyptian human rights, female members of Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party demonstrated in front of NDP’s Cairo headquarters to protest the State Council’s recent decision to ban female justices. One protester, who identified herself as a member of the Cairo Municipal Council, remarked that “it’s hard to ignore such a backward decision, especially since women are playing a leading role in all fields of national work.”