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Security forces step up persecution of bloggers under the auspices of the state of emergency Four days after his kidnap, blogger Mohamed Adel has disappeared and it is feared that he is being tortured

Cairo 25th November





The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information condemned today the security forces arrest of blogger Mohamed Adel, who runs Meit blog (http://43arb.info/meit). Mohamed Adel has been kidnapped and held in an unknown place since 20th November.



Adel’s house was surrounded by fourty soldiers, special police forces and three police vans who broke into his home, made a search of his house and confiscated books and CDs. The twenty year old blogger was outside his house during the police campaign. It seems that police had been keeping a track on his phone, and he was kidnapped while he was on his way to meet his friend who is a journalist.



Although the blogger's father has filed two lawsuits against the attorney-general demanding his son's whereabouts be revealed immediately, the general prosecutor confirmed that his son was wanted for questioning unofficially. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and his Adel’s friends have been informed that the blogger is being held at the headquarters of state security known as "Lazogli" in Cairo, a place of ill reputation where torture has been practiced on the infamous fourth floor.



Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said in a statement: "An enormous security force, and special forces to take into custody a young blogger who owns nothing other than a keyboard and a blog!!! This is the law of the state of emergency which has ruled the Egyptians for twenty seven years".



It is worth mentioning that blogger Adel is the second blogger to be arrested officially according to state of emergency laws, the first was Musaad Abu Fagr, who runs a blog called (http://wednane3ish.katib). In addition to this other bloggers have been persecuted, as if the main concern of security forces is to chase bloggers, not those who kill innocents in sunk ships, whose owners have close ties with the government.



Further information on: http://anhri.net/press/2008/pr1023.shtml



