Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned attempts to intimidate Mark Sanad, who said he has been threatened with prison for publically supporting his brother, detained blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad. After visiting his brother in prison on Sep. 20, Sanad said “I was threatened with arrest if I do not keep quiet and stop defending my brother. I will not stop. Let them detain me. I have no problem with that.” In a press statement, RSF reiterated its call for the detained netizen's immediate release and urged the authorities to renounce the intimidation worthy of the Mubarak era. Sanad told RSF that his brother's health is worsening, and that he has already lost more than 12 kilograms since he began a hunger strike. He added that his brother is refusing to go to the prison infirmary, and he feared his brother would not survive to see his Oct. 4 appeal. A peaceful march originating from Tahrir Square on Sep. 19 demanded Maikel's release as well as an end to civilian trials in military courts. The march started at Cairo's Tahrir Square. The blogger's father, Nabil Sanad, has received no reply to the seven letters he has sent to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces requesting his son's release. He says he will take the Egyptian authorities before the International Court of Justice if his son dies in detention. Reporters Without Borders would encourage such an initiative.
