Maikel Nabil Sanad, a blogger charged with insulting the armed forces, is expected to be released today, his lawyer told reporters outside the military detention center where the trial is being held. Sanad has been on a hunger strike for 50 days, according to his family. “I'm optimistic the court will rule in favor of Maikel because he is really sick,” Negad al-Borey, Sanad's lawyer said. Sanad did not attend today's court session because he is too weak, according to his lawyer. His brother and other family members were present in court. The charges against Sanad include libel for insulting military officers by name, which his lawyers denied. The lawyers also said taht the prosecution could not provide sufficient evidence that Nabil actually wrote the blog posts in question. The last session of Sanad's trial, held on 4 October, was adjourned because the judge said the court documents were not in order. Many of Sanad's supporters feared that delay could mean death for the hunger-striking blogger and pacifist activist. “Either they will retry him from the beginning or they will retry him in a civilian court or in a military court again, or his punishment will be reduced to the time he already spent in jail, or the charges will be dropped,” Borey said. A final decision is expected in an hour.
