Scores of political activists on Saturday staged a protest in the centre of the Egyptian capital Cairo against the detention and the trial of a pro-reform demonstrator, and called for his release. The activists chanted slogans critical of the Egyptian government and called for an end to Egypt's emergency law, which has been in effect for more than one quarter a century now. “This man must be release immediately,” said Mohamed Abdel Qodos, a journalist-cum-activist with affiliations to the banned Islamist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood. “He has done nothing wrong, but this is the way with the emergency law that criminalises whoever speaks out against the government,” he told The Gazette Saturday in an interview over the phone. The demonstrator, Ahmed Doma, who is a member of the 6 April protest movement, took part in a pro-reform gathering in central Cairo on 3 May along with several legislators, and other activists. After the protest, however, he was abducted, according to his colleagues, and taken to jail. He was taken to court on Saturday and a list of charges, including attacking policemen and causing damage to private property, was read out in front of his lawyers. Tens of policemen cordoned off the courthouse, while pro-Doma witnesses were not let in, according to a statement by NGO the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights. Doma's lawyers say his arrest contradicts articles in the Egyptian constitution, which give citizens the right to express themselves peacefully and freely. They asked the judges to adjourn until 15 May Doma's trial for them to study the charges against him. “It's a shame on Egypt to be scarred of a few people who only express themselves peacefully,” Abdel Qodos said. “This country has become a real wonderland a long time ago and we should stop being surprised,” he added.
