Egyptian Detained For Revealing Facts On A TV Show.

Egyptian Detained For Revealing Facts On A TV Show.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said today, that they managed ,with effort, to release Sabah Khalil Eid , member of the community development association at Tamoh ,a village in Giza. She was detained at Abu AlNomros police station for four days after revealing facts that could be readily classified under human trafficking. On the TV show, “Wahed Min AlNas” (one of the people) ,Sabah strongly resented the prevailing trend of marrying female minors to rich Gulf old men, and gave an example, a case of a child whom her parents forced into marriage, being only thirteen years old.

Right after airing the show , some villagers filed a complaint against Sabah accusing her of insult and libel. She was released and considered a witness after the prosecution realized the truth of what Sabah had revealed on air. However, the police department chief , in an avenging power abuse, would not let her go displaying a barefaced waste of law and overlooking prosecution decisions. ANHRI lawyers intervened and managed to drive the prosecution to pressure the police chief to release Sabah late on 27/1/2010.

Ahmed Omar, ANHRI lawyer said , “This is a crime of arbitrary detention, with no legal justification. As we ask the public prosecutor to investigate the crimes of wedding minor females to wealthy Arabs, a trend run by a networked “mafia” in Egypt , we demand that the ministry of interior would conduct a fair and transparent investigation with the officer at Abu Alnomros police station for the illegal detention of Mrs. Sabah Khalil. We request that the results of this investigation and the measures taken against this officer would be announced to the public”.

Revealing this multifold crime constituting human trafficking ,forcing female minors into marriage , as well as the practices of police officers against a simple lady who expressed her opinion and disclosed ugly corruption facts , the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information asserts that freedom of expression is neither a luxury nor an exclusive right for the privileged. Expression is a right for every citizen and all departments of the Egyptian government , especially police, should respect this right and never seize it at any expense.

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