CAIRO: The Cairo Administrative Judicial Court rejected on Saturday a controversial case brought against 51 websites belonging to Egyptian human rights organizations and bloggers by an Alexandria head judge. In April, Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad of the Alexandria Court of Appeals filed a lawsuit demanding the shutdown of 51 Internet sites on the basis that they "tarnish the reputation of the Egyptian government and insult the Egyptian president. The Internet sites include the web pages of several NGOs including the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC) and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) in addition to several blogs."It is truly a wonderful day. We are pleased with this sentence that restores things back to normal, said Gamal Eid, the executive director of HRInfo.According to Eid, the court emphasized its "support for freedom of expression, adding that the websites would remain "as long as these sites do not harm beliefs or public order. "Minor victories give us hope and the ability to continue. This sentence [gives us] confidence that our efforts in support of freedom in Egypt are not in vain, said Ahmed Seif Al-Islam, a human rights activist and former director of HMLC.There have been several twists in the case, also known as the "51 websites trial, since it began last spring. It started shortly after Eid filed a lawsuit against Judge Mourad for allegedly copying more than 50 pages of a report on blogging in the Arab world issued by HRInfo, including the material in his own book on web logs without citing sources and references. At first, Mourad responded by demanding the discontinuation of 20 sites, later adding 31 web pages to his black list.Mourad then sued Eid, Seif, and blogger Ahmed Gharbeia for blackmail. He also reportedly brought a legal case against Eid, bloggers Alaa Seif and his wife Manal and human rights activist Bahey El Din Hassan for defamation. The cases are still ongoing. Eid told Daily News Egypt that Saturday's ruling was a "New Year's gift from the Egyptian Judiciary, adding that HRInfo and HMLC will celebrate with a party for advocates of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
