Justice Delayed for Photographer Shawkan

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

In a court hearing in Cairo, Egypt, earlier today, the trial of the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) and the 738 other defendants in the “Rabaa dispersal” case was adjourned once again, this time until November 1. This means he will spend his fourth consecutive birthday in jail; he turns 29 on October 10.

A similar reason to one given by the court in the past was given today: its judges are examining video evidence. Also, one defendant who has cancer was released today after confirming his home address.

The photo above, of Shawkan in court, is from today. Anyone can see that the waiting is wearying. The trial is trial enough for Shawkan, who is a photojournalist who was arrested in a general roundup of a protest in August 2013. He was a credentialed reporter covering the story of the protest and the crackdown and was arrested in the general chaos of the roundup. He should have been released by the Egyptian authorities within days when they realized what they had done, and his name should not be leading the litany of names of reporters who were arrested for doing their job in recent years.

But more than three years later, Shawkan still sits in prison, sometimes in solitary confinement, and he awaits each new, now monthly, delay in the delivery of any news, any change in status, any justice.
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Today in History: Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

In an apartment in Poughkeepsie, New York, Judge Raymond E. Aldrich, Jr. (no relation to my family) pronounced William R. Aldrich and Rena Joyce Benjinsohn man and wife 50 years ago today. The newly betrothed honeymooned in New York City that weekend. They saw Mame, among other shows. They returned to their jobs the following Monday.

Today is my parents’ golden wedding anniversary. There is no big party planned because neither of my parents would much care for it. Almost all of the things that one might assume a couple can pack into 50 years of life has followed, and some that one might not imagine. My parents have had the chance to experience the “through thick and thin” part of the standard wedding vows and the “through sickness and health.” They are a team and I admire them for that.

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!
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On the Edge

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

I’m a damn sap.

Sometimes it’s the television ads. There are some that get me every time. “Aw, they’re getting a new kitten!” (Never mind what the ad is selling.) Or if a character in a movie—at any point in the movie—says something about wanting to “go home,” and at the end of the movie they walk through their front door and say they’re “home,” and the music swells and the credits start rolling, I’m a goner.
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