CAIRO: The office of the public prosecutor in Shubra district ordered on Monday the 15-day detainment of Muslim Brotherhood blogger/journalist Abdel Moneim Mahmoud pending investigation of charges including "membership of an illegal organization and "tarnishing Egypt's image. Mahmoud, a reporter at the British Al-Hiwar TV and moderator of the blog 'Ana Ikhwan,' ('I am a Brother') was arrested by Egyptian authorities late Saturday night while boarding a flight at Cairo International Airport. According to the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud was en route to prepare a report on the status of human rights in the Arab world for the British satellite channel when he was pulled off the plane by state security. Earlier the same day, Egyptian security service raided Mahmoud's family home in Alexandria and his Cairo apartment, allegedly in search of his laptop and computer accessories. Mahmoud, reportedly in hiding over the weekend was not present during any of the raids. Both local and international human rights organizations strongly condemned Mahmoud's arrest; calling for his immediate release and urging activists and media outlets to protest his detainment to the Egyptian authorities. "The Egyptian government is detaining bloggers for criticizing Islam and for belonging to a group that promotes it. The real targets are free speech and those who use this right to criticize the government, Elijah Zarwan, researcher in the Middle East division at Human Rights Watch told The Daily Star Egypt. Furthermore, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) expressed in a recent press release "anxiety and fear for Mahmoud's life arguing that his arrest is a result of a campaign carried out by the Egyptian police authorities to arrest individuals suspected of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. While the official reason for Mahmoud's arrest still remains obscure, Cairo-based human rights organization The Nadim Center stresses that his detainment can be attributed in part to his outspoken blogging. "The Nadim Center does not have a clear explanation for his detention except for the role he played in exposing crimes committed by the Ministry of Interior in his Internet blog, where he called for the release of Brotherhood detainees, the Nadim Center stated. The organization also believes that Mahmoud's high public profile and continuous participation in both national and international conferences on human rights issues in Egypt may also be an underlying reason for his arrest. The Daily Star Egypt contacted the ministry of interior for a comment but received no response until time of press.
