Activism

Brave in the Face of Indifference

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Bravery is a skill. I do not know if I have cultivated it in myself. Bravery is, of course, not what one does in the absence of fear but what one can do—what one actually does—when fear is present.

[A comment: Today is December 21, 2016. I wrote the first draft of this column almost a year ago. Sadly, the only update to offer today is this one: All the parties described below are, simply, even more brave than they were several months ago. Ali remains in prison. His father posts updates each week and sometimes more frequently on social media. We learned this summer that he earned a university degree while in prison. Dawood al-Marhoon and Abed allahhassan al-Zaher also remain in prison. Raif Badawi remains in prison. He is starting to learn of the global movement that has grown around the fight to free him. Back to the column from October 2015:]
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A New Delay for Shawkan

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The second hearing in the trial of the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) was delayed until August 9 due to the “involuntary absence” of Shawkan and the other 738 defendants.

Shawkan’s lawyer, Karim Abdelrady, wrote in a social media post, “The Security Directorate addressed the court to announce that the defendants were not able to be transferred from prison to the courtroom, due to security reasons which it did not specify.”
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‘Taking pictures isn’t a crime’

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The second hearing in the trial of the 739 defendants facing charges related to the “Rabaa sit-in” in Egypt, a trial that includes the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) will be held in a few hours on Tuesday, June 28, tomorrow.

Today it was announced that the National Press Club in Washington, DC, will honor Shawkan with one of this year’s two 2016 John Aubuchon Press Freedom awards. NPC President Thomas Burr said, “Shawkan’s case exemplifies the draconian way Egyptian authorities have cracked down on the press. Egypt is one of the world’s top jailers of news professionals, and the situation there is not improving.”

Because there are so many defendants, the trial is being conducted in a special building constructed for mass trials. It is outside Tora Prison near Cairo.

For two years, Shawkan was held without knowing what the charges against him are; in March, he and his lawyers finally learned that he faces nine charges that range from “joining a criminal gang” to “murder.” From the moment he was arrested on August 14, 2013, till March of this year, he did not know that he faces execution if he is convicted. Charged with murder, Mahmoud Abu Zeid is in a fight for his life. For taking photos.

He has been in jail for almost three years now.
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