Saturday, September 26, 2015

Another persecuted Egyptian blogger

FREE SPEECH INTERLUDE: Convicted Egyptian blogger posts Israel fan vid. Sherif Gaber, dodging a one-year jail sentence for atheist activism, says Arab world is envious of Jewish state’s achievements (Stuart Winer, Times of Israel blog).
Gaber made headlines earlier this year when he was sentenced to a year in prison for “contempt of religion” after authorities at the Suez Canal University in Ismailia where he was studying reported him in 2013 for setting up a pro-atheism Facebook page.

Bail was set for about $130 until an appeal could be heard but Gaber went on the run and has been in hiding ever since.
Dear me, Egyptian governments come and go, but this sort of persecution keeps happening. I have not heard of Mr. Gaber before today and I flag this story not because he posted a pro-Israel video, but because I support his right to express his religious and political views, whatever they are.

Hey, General Sissi's Government: the world is watching. Just saying.

Background here and here, sadly, with many links. To be fair, none of come from the time of General Sissi's Government, until now. Let's see them do better than this.