According to the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), Sanad's trial has been delayed until November 13 at the request of his lawyer.

 

To read a statement by Maikel Nabil Sanad, go to: http://bit.ly/uukX3U

 

October 28, 2011 -- In September, the World Movement for Democracy issued a DemocracyAlert about Maikel Nabil Sanad, the first Egyptian

blogger to be arrested since

Hosni Mubarak's ouster.  According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Sanad was sentenced in April to three years in a military prison for “publishing false news” and “disturbing public security” in a blog entry entitled “The army and the people never were one hand.” 

 

On August 23, he began a hunger strike to protest “his continued imprisonment… and the delay in dealing with his appeal.” Since that time, he has refused food and has only consumed milk and juice. His brother, Mark, told Ahram Online that “Maikel needs to be transferred to a hospital as soon as possible… The prison hospital only has equipment to check blood pressure and blood sugar. Maikel said it worries him when they check his blood sugar because their equipment is dirty and he has no immunity now.”

 

The Guardian reports that “a military appeals court bowed to public pressure and ordered a retrial of Sanad. But they insisted it would once again take the form of a military tribunal, which international human rights organizations have condemned as falling short of the basic standards of legal justice.” According to ABC News Australia, “Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say that up to 12,000 civilians have been tried in military court since the revolution. That's more than the total under Mubarak's 30-year rule.” Sanad is but one of these civilians, but is perhaps in the most immediate danger.

 

Ahram Online reports that Sanad’s retrial date has been set for November 1. The World Movement for Democracy calls for Sanad’s immediate release, and urges the Egyptian government to allow him to arrange his own medical care as soon as possible.

 

We ask you to please contact your local Egyptian Embassy to express your solidarity with Maikel Nabil Sanad and to advocate for his release.

 

You can follow Maikel Nabil Sanad’s case by going to his official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/FreeMaikelNabil