23-year old blogger Diaa Eddin Gad was detained by Egyptian state security in front of his family's house in a village outside Tanta on 6 February 2009. Michael Slackman reports for IHT: "Gad was seated at his computer working on his blog. His mother had just laid out lunch and his older sister was behind him studying for medical school. His phone rang, he walked outside, so as not to disturb his sister, and was jumped by four officers."
One week later, the authorities still refused to say where he was beeing held, or why he was detained. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior told the IHT that "related bodies are examining his case," describing the kidnapping and incommunicado detention as "regular procedure." (Which is true of course, if you are working for a mafia).
According to the IHT, Gad was arrested after taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Cairo, organized by the liberal Wafd party, and he has also been described as a member of the Kifaya movement. He is the author of a blog called Sawt Ghadib, or "angry voice", where he has expressed support for the Palestinian struggle and criticism of the Egyptian regime for it's participation in the siege of Gaza.
According to The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information "bloggers have become a major target of the police authorities in Egypt and all these assaults are committed outside the law or under the cloak of the emergency state. ANHRI demands that all defenders of freedom of expression join hands to bring an end to this abominable state of emergency."
Pic above taken from the Sawt Ghadib blog.
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