CAIRO: Activists have launched an online campaign directed at Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for Australian journalist Austin Mackell, who was arrested while reporting from the Nile Delta town of Mahallah on Saturday. He was arrested along with his translator Aliya Alwi, who was able to continue sending messages on her personal Twitter account into Saturday evening. The two have been charged with “incitement” and have been transferred to a military prosecutor in Tanta, an hour north of Cairo. “His courageous journalism has sympathetically chronicled the Egyptian struggle for freedom,” said the online petition, which activists implored people to sign in order to urge the military junta to drop charges against the journalist. “In reporting sympathetically on the Egyptian struggle for freedom, Mackell has reported critically on the at times brutal suppression of protesters by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, currently ruling Egypt. We suspect it is for this reason that Mackell is currently under arrest, facing the absurd charge of inciting people to protest. The mere existence of such a charge shows the importance of continued solidarity with Egyptians in their struggle for their basic rights,” continued the petition. Mackell's work has appeared in numerous international publications, including The Guardian UK, Al-Akhbar and others. Alwi reported at 7 PM local time that they had been transferred to the military prosecution in Tanta, about an hour north of Cairo. Many online referred to this change as “worrying.” Alwi, still able to send messages on her Twitter account as of early Saturday evening, wrote “Report against us, filed now. Many witnesses saw us ‘offering money to youth to vandalize and cause chaos'.” Their situation is being monitored closely by fellow media professionals and activists in the country, who have condemned the military's use of violence and intimidation against media personnel in recent months. Shortly before their arrest, the vehicle they were riding in was attacked, glass broken and Alwi was called a “whore,” she wrote on Twitter. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/0re3X Tags: featured, FreeAliya, FreeAustin, SCAF Section: Egypt, Latest News, Media
