CAIRO: Like thousands of Egyptian young people Ahmed Doma, poet, blogger and media officer of the committee of prisoners of conscience dreamt of a life free of an emergency law, and security persecution of activists. On the 3rd of May 2010 Doma responded with other young people to a call by several MPs and representatives of Egyptian political groups to participate in a demonstration from the Omar Makram mosque in down town Tahrir square to the People's Assembly to submit a petition concerning democratic change, drafted by a wide spectrum of political groups and trends. As usual, the Egyptian ministry of interior responded in the one way it has adopted as a policy towards Egyptian citizens: violence, beating and cordoning the protesters. From the midst of that demonstration, which was violently prevented by the police from moving one step towards its planned destination, Doma was arrested, falsely accused of having alone aggressed two police officers, blocking the traffic and inciting the public! He was hastily tried, sentenced to six months in prison, which upon appeal, were reduced to three! Although the arrest was clearly at a political event, the demonstration called for by MPs, and despite the numerous aggressions by the police against protesters, as documented in several legal complaints and blogs, including Doma himself, and despite a legal complaint filed by Doma against the two officers accusing them of aggressing him (case scheduled for the 2nd of October 2010), Doma is currently doing his sentence at the high security criminal prison of Qatta, in a message sent by the police to Egyptian youth who dream of life of freedom. Doma's punishment for exercising his right of peaceful demonstration does not stop at the three months in prison. He is also held in solitary confinement, where he spends 23 hours a day. His prison conditions are miserable, the cell dirty, full of insects and dirty water resulting in the deterioration of his health. He has been denied his right to health care and his request to be transferred to hospital for medical examination has been refused by the prison administration. The court may do justice to Doma on the 2nd of October; it may disclose to the public the truth about who is the aggressor and who is the aggressed; a day may even come, hopefully soon, when the ministry of interior would have to apologize to Doma and the thousand others who have tasted the injustice and humiliation of detention, torture and state violence. Until then, although we may not be able to release Doma, we demand his transfer to the Damanhour public prison and we hold the ministry of interior and the public prosecutor responsible for his safety and life in his high security prison where there is no doctor, no health care and no rights. Signatories: El Nadim Center Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights Women and society association Hisham Mubarak Law Center Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression Arab Network for Human Rights Information Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Land Center for Human Rights
