Bloggers in Egypt have often found themselves on the wrong side of ambiguous and outdated laws, some dating back several decades. Even before the January 25 uprising bloggers, such as Kareem Amer, who spent four years in prison, were targeted and made an example of. This policy continued into what the post Mubarak Egypt. Over the past few months, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces identified bloggers starting with Maikel Nabil Sanad, a revolutionary, atheist pro-Israeli critic of the army which made him the perfect candidate to pave the road of oppression against bloggers which ensured that their sentencing would be met with minimum opposition from the public. As time passed, it became common for bloggers (especially those who were atheist) to face military courts and be sentenced for expressing themselves through the virtual world, as the legacy media would never allow them to do so. On October 30th, the prominent blogger, Alaa Abdul Fatah, was detained by Egypt's military prosecutor for 15 days followed by a similar extension this week. Just over a week before then another young Egyptian was punished over online expression. Ayman Youssef Mansour received a three-year sentence for “insulting Islam and God[1]”, “promoting extremist ideas” and “inciting sectarianism” through a Facebook page he set up. Many activists, following the January 25 uprising, believed that such harsh sentences of the like that were given to Kareem Amer would not be handed out again. It was thought that following January 25 it should not be a crime for an Egyptian to express his or her ideas any more, even if such ideas went against the mainstream and the religious forces of the country. Ayman Mansour was the first blogger to be sentenced after ousting Mubarak in a case related to expressing ideas by a civilian court unlike Maikel Nabil who was sentenced by a military court without the presence of lawyers. In Egypt today, insulting either the military or religion leads to being sentenced to three years. It is still unacceptable amongst many people that for some Egyptians, “The God” is a mythical being like Superman while for others He is the alpha and the omega. It is vital that all Egyptians are allowed to express their ideas whether they were radical Islamic or atheist because at the end of the day sharing the same country compels us to better acquaint ourselves with one another. Ayman Mansour was a victim of both the new on realities that post Mubarak Egypt faces as well as some exceptional circumstances such the endless “breaking news” from Egypt, minute after minute. In a case not unlike Maikal Nabil's, Ayman Mansour lacked a popular following or “fan base” that could rally for his cause and keep him in the headlines amongst the unknown number of civilians who were sentenced to jail for self expression. It is the concept of self-expression that must be defended that would guarantee that in the post January 25 Egypt cases such as Kareem Amer's would not be repeated. Standing up for those who exercise their right as human beings to express themselves peacefully regardless of whether we agree with their opinion is the surest safeguard against perpetuating a wrong that should never have taken place at all. ** Mina Naguib is a blogger and an Internet activist from Egypt currently residing in Stockholm, Sweden. He tweets as @MinaNaguib90 BM
