The military detention of a blogger triggers protests in Cairo Youth movements and political parties are warning of a second revolution, this time against the ruling military, if it continues prosecuting civilians in military courts. The warning came after a military prosecutor detained Alaa , a prominent activist and blogger, over his alleged involvement in the deadly 9 October clash in front of Maspero -- the state TV building in downtown Cairo -- where 27 people, mostly Christian Coptic protesters, were killed in clashes with army troops. The prosecutor also questioned activist Bahaa Saber over the same charges of incitement in the Maspero incident but Saber was released shortly afterwards. During questioning at the military prosecution headquarters, , who the military said was partly to blame for the Maspero killings by stirring up the violence, and Saber refused to answer questions, saying they believed the military had no legitimate right to question civilians. During the interrogation on Sunday dozens of activists gathered outside the military prosecution headquarters to show solidarity with the two activists. The protesters started to chant against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) as soon as they heard the verdict. In the last few months, the military council promised on several occasions that it would not prosecute any civilian especially political and human rights activists in military courts. But Sunday's questioning of activists and the detention of for 15 days was enough to trigger mass protests against the SCAF. Local and human rights groups called on the military to release . The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an American rights group, called the decision to detain "the height of hypocrisy for the ruling military council to try to intimidate critics through military trials after claiming to support the uprising." The group called for 's immediate release. "Failure to do so belies claims that authorities have broken from the intimidation tactics of the past 30 years," said CPJ's Middle East coordinator Mohamed Abdel-Dayem. Amnesty International also criticised the trials of civilians in military courts, as well as the military's expansion of Egypt's emergency law which gives police and the government a mandate to arrest anybody who they deem threatens national security. 's wife, who is about to give birth to their first child, said the army is proving everyday that it is not protecting the revolution. "We're trying to keep the focus on military trials of civilians, not just on Alaa," Manal Hassan told the AP news agency. Hassan added that they plan to name their firstborn Khaled, after Khaled Said, the young man from Alexandria whose death while in police custody helped spark the uprising against Hosni Mubarak. On Monday, thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest against 's detention. Demonstrators marched from Tahrir Square to the Appeals Prison in the Cairo district of Bab Al-Khalq, where is being held. The protesters wore yellow badges on their shirts reading "I am against the military trial of civilians". Mohamed Abul-Ghar, chairman of the Egyptian Social Democrats, said he expects "a second revolution, this one against the SCAF, as public opinion is fed up with non- stop human rights violations." Abul-Ghar added that the military had to understand the revolution against the Mubarak regime "was against these kinds of violations that include social, financial and physical infringements." "We do not want you, we do not want your courts. The blood of Maspero's martyrs is still on your hands," protesters chanted. Abdel-Gelil Mustafa, the coordinator of the National Association for Change, said that SCAF's policies are spreading tension and takes the political process to a deadlock. Mustafa said there was urgent need to hand over power to an elected civilian authority. A large number of the protesters on Monday were either the families of the Maspero victims or the families of civilians being prosecuted before military courts. In 2006, state security detained for 45 days without charge after he blogged in support of reformist judges and better election monitoring. is one of Egypt's pioneer bloggers, as is his wife. Since 2004, both have been publishing their political opinions in Manal&Alaa blog. In 2005, the husband and wife team won the Special Reporters without Borders Award in Deutsche Welle's Best Blogs competition. As a software developer and activist, has supported initiatives that promote social media, freedom of expression and political activism. also helped thousands of Egyptian to start blogging on the Internet to express their opinion on the Mubarak regime. 's father, Ahmed Seif El-Islam, is a long time human rights activist and director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre. In his last post at the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk, wrote, "When will the SCAF understand that many revolutionaries are afraid of their tender loving mothers more than they fear death or torture?" Yesterday, Wednesday, the SCAF issued its Communiqué 77 ordering the release of 334 detainees who have already been convicted by military courts.
