CAIRO: Cairo-based rights group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) reported Wednesday on new twists in the complex case of Alexandria Head Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad. Mourad is demanding the shutdown of 51 Egyptian websites belonging to human rights groups and outspoken bloggers on the basis that they "tarnish Egypt's reputation. Since its launch earlier this year, the case has turned into a complicated legal affair involving accusations of blackmail, extortion and plagiarism between the defense and the prosecution. Following a recent legal investigation into the content of the "blacklisted websites, the State Commissioner issued a report in which it stating that the sites cannot be blocked. However the government has the "right to omit some pages from them if they carry an insult towards Judge Mourad or his judicial identity. Websites investigated include that of HRinfo, Al-Ghad newspaper, Kefaya, Good News company, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and numerous blogs such as Egyptian Girl and The Nation is Fatima. "The researchers emphasized that the websites cannot be blocked and that Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad does not possess the authority to demand a shutdown of these sites. However, if there are links, writings, or comments on the sites that defame the judge, those will be removed, Gamal Eid, director of HRInfo told The Daily Star Egypt. Despite continuous attempts by The Daily Star Egypt to contact Mourad by phone and email, he didn't could not be reached for comment. Blogger Amr Gharbeia, moderator of www.gharbeia.net, was recently interrogated by the police and charged with defaming Mourad in comments posted on his blog. Gharbeia, however, affirmed that he is not the author of the defamatory comments and that he took them off his blog earlier this spring. "I did not write those comments myself. What they are accusing me of is me allowing commentators to post those writings on my blog. I removed the comments several months ago at the beginning of March, Gharbeia told The Daily Star Egypt. According to Gharbeia, the police are currently attempting to locate the authors of the defamatory comments. "I am still waiting for more news. The case seems to come to an end though, Gharbeia added. Eid himself is demanding the removal of Mourad's legal immunity and also suing the judge for LE 500,000 for violating the intellectual property rights of HRInfo. In April this year, Eid launched a legal case against Mourad accusing him of copying more than 50 fifty pages of an HRInfo report on blogging in the Arab world and including it in his own book on blogging without citing sources. "Dr. Abdel Fattah Mourad, Judge and Head of Alexandria Appeal Court recently published a book titled Scientific and Legal Principles of Blogs which includes more than 50 pages copied from HRinfo's report titled Implacable Adversaries: Arab Governments and the Internet , without reference to sources, as dictated by Intellectual Property Protection Act no. 82/2002, HRInfo stated in an earlier press release. Eid told The Daily Star Egypt that he is planning to invest part of the compensation in the establishment of a unit for lawyers to protect freedom of opinion and expression and intellectual property rights. "We will set up the unit here in Egypt and then hopefully expand its operations to elsewhere in the Arab world, Eid continued. HRInfo has reportedly started to accept complaints concerning violation of intellectual property rights. In response, Mourad is accusing Eid and Ahmed Seif, chair of Hisham Mubarak Law Center, of extortion; an accusation HRinfo refers to as "completely fabricated. Their interrogations are scheduled for late June and early July, respectively.
