CAIRO - It has been a distressing time for the mother of Mohamed Adel, a young man who disappeared after helping protect Cairo's streets and historic buildings from thugs on the night of January 28, which witnessed unprecedented unrest in Egypt. “My son is like many other young men who participated in the Egyptian Revolution. I was shocked when someone rang to inform me that Mohamed had been found guilty of sabotage and sent down for five years,” Nariman Ahmed, an interior designer and the mother of the victim told The Egyptian Gazette angrily. “My son is not a thug, but the Army treated him like a criminal when he lost his ID on January 28 [The Day of Anger], as chaos prevailed and many people lost their possessions.” According to Martial Order No. 2 of 2011, Mohamed was sentenced to five years behind bars without any investi- gation, despite the fact that he is from a wealthy family and has a well-paid job with an international bank in Egypt. The circumstances of the arrest of many Egyptian civilians who partici- pated in the Egyptian revolution have angered the public, who want the Armed Forces to free these innocent citizens, who have been brutally treated by thugs said to be from State Security, an agency that was recently stormed after long years of brutality and inhumanity during Mubarak's regime. The fact that some State Security personnel attacked innocent civilians participating in the revolution makes one wonder whether it has really succeeded in eradicating the corruption of the Mubarak regime. “The axe has yet to be put to the roots of corruption,” said Mohamed Akef, the former head of the Muslim Brotherhood, in an open forum held in the Press Syndicate earlier this week, calling for the releasing of all the Brotherhood activists who were arrest- ed under the Emergency Law. More than 5,000 Brothers were arrested when President Mubarak was in power. Hassan Malak, a Brotherhood ex- convict, said the Press Syndicate should be responsible for rehabilitating the reputation of every innocent Egyptian citizen who was sullied by the pro-regime newspapers. Osama Soliman, another Brotherhood member, was arrested by the Egyptian authorities at Cairo Airport, where he was about to board a flight to Saudi Arabia to perform the Omra (Minor Pilgrimage). That was 20 months ago. “My father, who owns some Forex companies, was accused of being involved in terrorism when he received 2.3 million euros from a Saudi agent,” Khadiga, Osama's daughter, told The Egyptian Gazette. Although the Egyptian judiciary acquitted him, he was sentenced by State Security to three years in jail and fined 5.6 million euros. “All my dad's forex companies were closed and his money frozen by State Security. I do hope that the injustices of the ex-regime against innocent people never happen again,” added Khadiga, who dearly wishes that her father is released soon. “Many young people disappeared during the revolution and their families still don't know anything about them,” Ahmed Fekry, 28, one of the demon- strators in Al Tahrir Square, told this newspaper.
