CAIRO: The detention of Muslim Brotherhood blogger and journalist Abdel Moneim Mahmoud was extended for the third consecutive time since his arrest on April 14 by the public prosecutor in Nasr City on Tuesday. He is held pending investigation into his membership of the banned organization. While Mahmoud has officially been accused of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization, local and international rights groups argue that the real reason behind Mahmoud's arrest is closely linked to his work in exposing, on his internet blog, the torture and abuse allegedly committed by the Egyptian security service. "Yes, it is correct that the detainment has been extended 15 days. This is a technique used by the Egyptian government to keep the voices of the opposition at bay. They really do not have anything to go on in the case of my client, so they keep extending his detainment for lack of criminal evidence. I expect this circus to go on for another five to six months, Mahmoud's lawyer Islam Lotfy told The Daily Star Egypt. Lotfy said that Mahmoud was fine despite being detained under harsh living conditions at Mahkum prison. The outspoken blogger previously demanded his transfer to Tora prison after allegedly being subjected to abusive treatment and sexual harassment at Mahkum prison; an incident which led him to start a hunger strike two weeks ago. That request however, has been denied. Last week, he wrote a message from Mahkum expressing his longing for freedom, his friends, and his weblog. "In this gloomy place, I try to avoid recalling the good memories of people, places and jobs. When I enter helplessly into these memories, the jailer comes to shut down the cell door violently to remind me that I can t meet them and I can t even enjoy their company in my imagination, he wrote. While Lotfy stresses that his client is not being physically harmed in any way at the moment, he said that he was denied access to him earlier this week. "I was not allowed to visit my client the other day when I came to deliver a few books to him that he needed for upcoming exams at the Faculty of Information where he is pursuing a diploma in media studies. This is unacceptable behavior, Lotfy emphasized. Mahmoud's detainment has been strongly criticized by rights groups around the world, including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. "Once again, the Egyptian government is prosecuting a journalist because he has reported on human rights abuses in the country. The government should focus its energies on ending the abuses, not silencing those who expose them, Sarah Leah Whitson of the organization's Middle East Division stated.
