Slashdot Mirror
Egypt Arrests More Bloggers
2think writes "The BBC is reporting that after bloggers highlighted recent public sexual harassment within view of Egyptian police, the government of Egypt has been arresting bloggers." From the article: "The most recently detained blogger, Abdel Kareem Nabil, was detained in Alexandria on 6 November and was charged with disrupting public order, inciting religious hatred and defaming the president. Amnesty International says Mr Amer appeared to have been detained for expressing critical views about Islam and Egypt's al-Azhar religious authorities."
It should be no surprise that countries with little or no protection of free speech are arresting people for their comments online. Many bloggers use their real names (or make it easy for police to trace them. The people who would be arrested for public dissent should not be surprised if they are arrested for dissent online ... I would hope that many of these people relish the thought of being arrested for blogging, as it sometimes creates worldwide recognition to their cause or their plight.
... it's not like governments are quick to catch up with technical trends.
It certainly seems that blogger arrests are on the rise, such as the recent Greek blogger arrested for content he didn't write, and the constant string of arrested bloggers and other internet users in China (such as documentary filmmaker Hao Wu). This is probably an indication that Governments are just now learning about the influence commanded by a popular blogger rather than a change in policies around the globe
Huh? Don't mind me, I'm just the new guy.
Anyway, if you defend this guy, you're being played like a fiddle by the very forces that seek to destroy Western culture. Happy defending, Free Speechnauts!
On the contrary, if you choose not to defend this person's free speech, you are personally doing what you can do to destroy the bedrock value of Western culture. You can argue against his ideas. But when you support his imprisonment for those ideas, you might as well move to Egypt. You clearly don't support the values of Western culture. You actually appear to be a force seeking to destroy Western culture.
That the blogger was anti-Islam seems to be totally irrelevant since Egypt is a secular state (much like Turkey).
Interesting definition of a secular state- do you think they'll be abandoning the Koran in their constitutions anytime soon? Or will the Turks accept the Kurds and the remaining few Armenians with open arms? I think if they did, they could help solve one of President Bush's major problems by annexing the northern third of Iraq. I'm now convinced that America has no friends in the middle east- only trading partners controlled by the enemy of us all, the petroleum corporations.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Here is the type of incident they have been blogging about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2SGamUeMec
Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
"Rape is punishable by death in Islam"
Yep, in some parts they regularly execute the victims.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
What's going on here? Not a single comment blaming this on the Iraq war? Nobody trying to tell us that the US is a much worse police state? Wow. Must be an off-day for the slashdot trolls.
The Egyptian government was embarrassed, but its response was to completely deny the incident and censor its press from reporting it. Hence, the outrage came out in the blogs. Note that this happened almost 4 weeks ago on Oct 24 and it's just NOW starting to come out. The government has also taken the stance that the bloggers are trying to "humiliate" Egypt and Islam by talking about the incidence and that's why they are persecuted. Please read these articles for more information
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/africa/15c airo.html
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56301& SelectRegion=Middle_East
http://www.sandmonkey.org/2006/10/30/the-eid-sexua l-harassment-incident/
In Pakistan, they finally changed the law that required four male witnesses to convict a rapist. Without those four witnesses, a women stood a good chance of being punished for infidelity. The religious community is up in arms about this legal change, denouncing it because it will result in sexual promiscuity.
In Saudi Arabia, a 17 year old girl was recently sentenced to death for killing one of the three men who attempted to rape her and her cousin. The remaining two men were not charged with any crime.
Don't pretend for one moment that women have any legal rights in an Islamic country. The laws do a better job of protecting horses than women. I'm not being sarcastic. That is an honest fact. Horses have a higher rank in Islamic societies.
Islam is a religion of oppression and hate. We can all sit in a happy circle and sing kumbaya wishing for peace, but that is a fantasy. The stated goal of Islam is to convert the entire world, by the sword if necessary.
I will hold this stance against Islam until the major leaders of that sick religion denounce all forms of violence to obtain their goals.
-- Will program for bandwidth
Tell that to Mirza Tahir Hussain, who just got released from Death Row in Pakistan for a self defence incident when he was being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by a taxi driver. It took Prince Charles, Tony Blair and many more before them to get him freed, not killed, after being found innocent but then retried under Islamic law.