CAIRO: The Ahmed Doma saga continues to get stranger and stranger. According to the Defense Committee for Opinion Prisoners, and confirmed by the Egyptian prosecution's office, two officers that Doma's defense had accused of assaulting the activist and “framing him” are to face trial in what many are calling a breakthrough against police abuse against political activists in Egypt. Mustafa Farouk Abdel-Ghany and Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim face charges including lying in accusing Doma of using violence and “using excessive force” against the activist. Their trial will take place at Abdeen court in Cairo on October 2. At the same time, Doma remains in prison. He is currently serving three months in prison after he was arrested at a May 3 demonstration while protesting the emergency laws. He was later accused with several charges, including assaulting police officers, traffic obstruction, provoking bystanders and a number of other chargers. He was later convicted and sentenced to serve 6 months in prison, which was reduced to three when his attorneys appealed. According to the committee, Doma'a is being kept in solitary confinement, where he only leaves his cell for one hour per day. He is now suspected of having health-related problems due to the “highly unsanitary conditions within his cell.” He has requested, on “numerous occasions” to be examined in a hospital and see a physician, but the prison management refused to comply to his appeals, the committee added. “We request that Ahmed Doma'a be transferred into the general Damanhour prison due to the harsh treatment he is suffering at al-Qata'a prison that he is presently being held at,” said a press statement. “There are many hazards on his health and personal safety at this present time.” According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Doma participated in an anti-government demonstration in May that called for an end to the emergency laws – Draconian measures that can detain citizens for a number of violations, including demonstrating – and greater democracy. The initial court had ruled that Doma had assaulted officers at the demonstration. “The verdict on Ahmed Doma is a clear message from the persistent Egyptian government to oppress advocates for democracy,” the ANHRI said in a press statement on Thursday. “A message, which is delivered by violence, fabricating cases or adopting police measures as a prime resort to [the] crackdown on protesters and those who would not compromise their right to a state free of emergency law, corruption and torture,” the statement added. Doma himself knows the heavy hand of the Egyptian courts all too well. He had been out of jail for only three months before this verdict returned him to a place behind bars. In early 2009, the blogger was accused of crossing into Gaza and participating in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israeli assault in December 2008/January 2009. He was convicted by a military court and was only released three months ago, ANHRI said. ”The prison sentence against Ahmed Doma is a new condemnation of the emergency state and torture in Egypt,” the ANHRI statement said. BM
