CAIRO: Disorder and ruckus plagued Saturday morning's hearing in the case brought against 21 Egyptian websites belonging to outspoken bloggers, human rights organizations, and news agencies. Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad, head of Alexandria's Court of Appeals had charged the websites with 'tarnishing the reputation of Egypt and the country's President.' The court room quickly filled up with lawyers, members of the press, and supporters of both sides as Mourad and his entourage made a late entrance shortly after 11 am. As representatives from Al-Jazeera news network rigged their cameras and microphones, The Daily Star Egypt reporter watched as Mourad approached the judges urging them to prohibit the TV channel from airing the event. "[That channel] is biased and will attempt to distort my statements and subsequently portray me as someone who is against law and human rights, Mourad argued before the judges. But his suggestion was dismissed and the hearing continued tumultuously with people from both sides flocking around the judges, along with security personnel and curious onlookers, to hear the plaintiff's arguments. In his opening statement, Mourad made a long monologue on his previous experience as a writer on internet blogging, computer software, and proxies, which he concluded by saying that "blogs criticizing the Quran and harming a nation's reputation should be blocked. A government lawyer, however, stated that it is "unfeasible to shut down internet sites on this basis. "There are too many sites out there critical of regimes and religion. They can't all be shut down, he continued. Amr Gharbeia, moderator of the blog gharbeia.net, is one whose online writings risk being shut down if Mourad wins the case. "He is only doing this to cover up his own plagiarism. He's corrupt, Gharbeia told The Daily Star Egypt when asked about the trial. In early March Mourad was accused of allegedly violating the copyright of Cairo-based human rights organization the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) by including 50 pages of a report on blogging issued by the organization in his own book without citations or references. Shortly after HRinfo's Executive Director Gamal Eid filed a lawsuit against the judge, who countered by filing another lawsuit against the website of HRInfo and 20 other Egyptian internet sites calling for their shut down for allegedly defaming Egypt and its President. Hossam Baghat, executive director of local rights group the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights, whose website is also on the judge's black list of internet sites hurting Egypt's reputation, told The Daily Star Egypt: "Why is the website of my organization on Abdel Fattah Mourad's hit list? Probably because we signed a public statement in solidarity with HRInfo condemning the judge's plagiarism. Many of the organizations and bloggers signing that statement are included on his black list. On March 22, a number of human rights, media agencies, and bloggers started a "defense campaign for freedom of expression in response to Mourad's lawsuit. Signatories of the campaign include Hesham Mubarak Center, Iraqi News Agency, HRInfo, Bent Masrya [Egyptian Girl] blog, On the Margin blog, and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). The websites belonging to the majority of the signatories are included in the lawsuit. Furthermore, Mourad's lawyer stated in a loud voice before the judges that the 21 blogs and websites are "against Islam and are terrorist. "I am here to protect Islam. Bloggers such as Kareem Amer poison and destroy our religion, the lawyer continued. Mahmoud Sultan, another of Mourad's lawyers, told The Daily Star Egypt that while he supports "freedom and rights for the people, the websites and blogs in question in this trial "insult Islam and are against society. 'They destroy the young and tarnish the President and should therefore be discontinued, Sultan added. The next hearing is scheduled for June 9. Until then, a team of legal researchers will reportedly conduct an in-depth investigation into the contents of the 21 websites and blogs in order to determine whether they defame Egypt or not.
