CAIRO: The Egyptian Military Court adjourned Monday the trial of Egyptian blogger Ahmed Mostafa to Tuesday.
Defense lawyers, affiliated with the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), said they were not allowed to acquire copies of the case’s documents. They were only allowed to see certain documents inside the courtroom, they said.
Mostafa, a 20-year-old engineering student at Kafr El-Sheikh University, is facing three charges, including spreading false information about a military institution through his blog, offending the Egyptian Armed Forces, and working to shake people’s confidence in the Armed Forces.
The rights group had described the charges brought against Mostafa as the “fastest of their kind. On Feb. 25, Mostafa went to the Military Prosecution Office in Kafr El-Sheikh, upon their request, to find that the Military Academy had filed an official complaint accusing him of spreading false information about it in a blog post published on Feb. 19, 2009.
While investigation continued on Sunday, while Mostafa was in detention, the case was referred to Military Court on Monday.
ANHRI said it was “utterly shocked by the decision. In a statement acquired by Daily News Egypt, ANHRI said that what Mostafa wrote on his blog is classified as acceptable criticism, which falls under freedom of expression.
It also said the trial reveals that the emergency law – contrary to what the government says – is used against bloggers. At least two bloggers, the group added, are in detention: Mosaad Aboul Fagr and Hany Nazir.
