18 February, 2009

The "disappearance" of Hossam Shahata

El-Badeel reported yesterday and the day before about the "disappearance" of Hossam Shahata, chairman of the local committé of Ayman Nour's al-Ghad party in Helwan. According to the reports, Shahata went to the public prosecutors office last Wednesday to file a complaint and ask for protection after state security raided his house in Helwan. He told friends that he was going to stage an open-ended sit-in and hungerstrike, but has not been heard from since. His car is reportedly still parked in the area.

The most disturbing part of this story is perhaps the fact that it took so long before it was even reported. Maybe because there is so much of this kind going on now that another disappearance is hardly noticed... Of course I don't read all Egyptian newspapers and blogs, so maybe I'm the only one that didn't notice. But al-Ghad is after all a party with a lot of media contacts, they should have been able to make a big fuss about this.

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