The Gad About Town

‘I’m in prison because I was doing my job’

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Mark Aldrich

Mahmoud Abou Zeid, the Egyptian photographer known as Shawkan, had an opportunity to speak on his own behalf in court today. He is the individual in white holding a microphone and addressing the panel of judges in the above photo. Shawkan’s case was postponed, yet again, this time until May 31.

“I’m in prison because I was doing my job,” Shawkan told the court. Today was the first time that Shawkan was able to address the court. Shawkan was arrested more than 1000 days ago while covering a protest—the Rabaa sit-in—that was a part of Egypt’s portion of demonstrations during the vast Arab Spring movement. He was arrested in a round-up of hundreds of people, and as a result, he is one of more than 700 co-defendants awaiting the start of his trial.

President al-Sisi’s government (and its jurisprudential system) has made it clear that it considers that job, journalism, to be a criminal enterprise. Several dozen are in jail in that nation right now; to the best of my knowledge, Shawkan has been held the longest: 1011 days today.

In the video below the fold, Shawkan speaks with the judges. At one point, he gestures toward the television and news cameras as if to say, “I should be with them covering hearings like this.”
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Today in History: May 21

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Mark Aldrich

The first meeting of the American Red Cross was held in Clara Barton’s home in Washington, DC, on this date in 1881.

Barton had learned about the International Red Cross and had performed work similar to the Red Cross during the American Civil War. She had organized nursing stations near battlefields—a man she was tending to died in her arms after he was shot while she was administering care to him; the bullet cut through her sleeve and hit him—and she distributed food and supplies on the front lines.
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