CAIRO: Standing outside the c28 military court on Wednesday, the tiny group of around 15 supporters of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil were hopeful the young man, jailed for months by the ruling military junta, would walk free. However, the court adjourned, yet again, delaying the verdict, “for no apparent reason,” according to a lawyer close to the family. Rami Ghanem, a lawyer at the military court, told Bikyamasr.com shortly after the postponement was announced that the decision is “legally possible but no valid reason for it. [I am] sure the purpose is to pressure Maikel to apologize.” On April 10, in a case widely seen as the first of its kind in the post-Hosni Mubarak Egypt, Nabil was sentenced to three years in jail by a military court. The young blogger, who holds controversial views concerning Israel, including calling for normalization – which has left him outside the massive “No Military Trials” campaign started by a group of local activists – has been on a hunger strike since August 23. His supporters received a boost on Wednesday when Samira Ibrahim, the female activist who has filed a lawsuit against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces over their “virginity tests,” came to show her solidarity. She told Bikyamasr.com that “I'm here in solidarity with Maikel [because] he's facing a military court which certainly won't rule in his favor.” She added that “there's little interest because of the media's complicity with SCAF.” Earlier this fall, authorities sent Maikel to a psychiatric hospital after he refused to eat. Doctors and observers said it was a move by the government to distance themselves from the potential death that looms for the young blogger, considered by many to be the first prisoner of conscience since the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. Basma Abdel Aziz, the director of the media department for Egypt's General Secretariat for Mental Health condemned the move regarding Nabil's case, stating, “the previous regime used to accuse mentally healthy individuals of being mentally disturbed and accuse them of crimes of conscience despite professional reports stating their sanity. “The incarceration of an individual whose charge is having a different view of the situation in the country is morally and professionally unacceptable. Sanad is kept in one ward with others accused of criminal charges, a matter that is involves terrorizing and threat,” the Abdel Aziz continued. Mark Nabil, the embattled blogger's brother, told Bikyamasr.com at the court that Maikel is facing liver and kidney problems “but he's determined not to apologize. “If he is sentenced to prison he intends to [enter a] complete hunger and thirst strike.” ** Reporting done by Pol O Gradaigh from the court. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/8hcYp Tags: featured, Free Maikel, Maikel Nabil, SCAF Section: Egypt, Human Rights, Latest News, Media
