International human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged Egypt's military rulers to immediately release a detained blogger who has been on hunger strike for over a month. On 10 April, Maikel Nabil Sanad, 25, received a three-year prison sentence from a military court after he documented various violations by the military against peaceful protesters. Sanad has been on hunger strike since 23 August, and his health has greatly deteriorated since prison authorities took away vital heart medication, Amnesty quoted members of his family as saying. “It is deeply worrying that Egypt's treatment of dissenters seems to have changed little since President Mubarak was in charge,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Last week, Sanad's family visited him in the prison hospital and told reporters that he had been denied vital medication for his heart condition. “Doctors are telling us that people on hunger strike don't survive more than 40 days. Today is Maikel's 34th day. The most important thing for us right now is that Maikel receives appropriate medical care from a private hospital at least until his next court session on 4 October," his brother Mark Nabil Sanad told Amnesty International. The practice of referring civilians to military tribunals has been at the center of disputes between revolutionary forces and Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took power after former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on 11 February. Since then, the SCAF has arrested and tried nearly 12,000 people, a number higher than the total tried before military tribunals during the whole of Mubarak's 30-year rule. On August, Asmaa Mahfouz, a 26-year-old activist, was transferred to the military prosecution on charges that she insulted the military council and called for armed operations against the military and the judiciary. Following a public campaign in support of Mahfouz, the SCAF dropped charges against her in a move to quell rising criticism over pursuing activists. Many commentators believe that Sanad did not get wide public support due to his political views, namely his admiration for aspects of Israeli governance. Last year, Sanad refused to serve in the Egyptian army on the grounds that he is pacifist. Many international rights watchdogs view him as a conscientious objector to military service. International rights groups have also argued that his views fail to justify him being tried before a military tribunal, which Egypt's military rulers allege is designed to try thugs. “Amnesty International considers Sanad to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression,” said the statement, which added the he “must be released immediately and unconditionally."
