Sit-in For Releasing Blogger Before Prosecutor General Office

A group of internet activists and bloggers organized a sit-in before the main office of the prosecutor general downtown Cairo on Saturday September 20, 2008 calling for the immediate release of internet blogger and Muslim Brotherhood activist Mohamed Refaat.

According to the call posted on Facebook social networking website, they call for his swift release in order not to miss his academic year.

Ministry of Interior has issued an arrest warrant against Refaat on August 24, 2008 after abducting him at state security apparatus premises of Lazoghly for almost a week. He was kept in custody although the prosecution has ordered him released on August 17, 2008.

Refaat was arrested on July 21, 2008 when a state security officer went to detain him and took some of Refaat’s stuff. Refaat surrendered himself afterwards but they kept him in custody for three days before referring to the prosecution.

Refaat was charged with joining the Brotherhood and calling for a strike during July 23^rd anniversary. Such a case indicates the oppression the regime practices against the activists to muzzle their freedoms, rights groups said.

Refaat is an internet blogger and founder of Matabbaat internet blog. Rights organizations including ANHRI and Hisham Mubarak Law Center condemned his arrest and said that Refaat, a student at the faculty of Information, has committed no crime or include any of the security allegations in his blog and that the government should have apologized for his imprisonment rather than issuing arrest warrants under the notorious emergency law.

Rights organizations said “charges filed against Refaat indicate that the state security apparatus is no longer controlled by the ministry of interior.”