Ominous

Egyptian Blogger Imprisoned

For criticizing the military.

This is not the way to respond to accusations that your government is continuing the last regime’s oppressive practices. Egypt’s interim military government sentenced blogger Maikel Nabil to three years in prison for criticizing the military, marking the first time a blogger was brought before a military tribunal since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February. Nabil accused the Egyptian armed forces of continuing Mubarak’s corrupt and undemocratic behavior, writing things like, “The revolution until now has succeeded in getting rid of the dictator, but the dictatorship is still there.” A military tribunal charged him with insulting the military establishment and spreading false information previously published by human rights organizations like Amnesty International—including reports of violence against protesters and forced “virginity tests” on female voters.