The Egyptian military council must immediately release Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abdul Fatah, Amnesty International said yesterday. Fatah was detained following the Maspiro incident earlier this month, which left 27 demonstrators dead. Amnesty released its statement following the military court's decision to deny Fatah's appeal and its decision to detain another 30 civilians on similar charges. “The Egyptian military council will be criticized for its actions; those considered political prisoners must be released immediately,” Amnesty's statement read. Fatah was arrested after criticizing the military's bloody intervention during a Coptic protest at the State Television and Radio headquarters (Maspiro). “Fatah stood before the military prosecution facing charges of inciting to use violence against the armed forces, assaulting a military soldier and stealing the armed forces' arms,” Amnesty's statement continued. The military decided to detain Fatah for 15 days pending trial and investigation. He is being held at Torah Prison. “Alaa spoke about others who are suffering in the shadow of military repression,” Amnesty said of Fatah's statement made from inside Torah. “Since the armed forces are responsible for the investigation into the Maspiro incident, there are doubts about the integrity of the investigation,” Amnesty's statement continued. “The authorities should conduct an independent investigation into the incident, particularly since violence was used against peaceful demonstrators and 27 died as a result.” “The military council has not tried those who used violence against the citizens, and it still insists that the protestors at Maspiro are responsible for the clashes while releasing itself of any responsibility,” the Amnesty report added.
