A Missed Opportunity to Help Shawkan?

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

On Tuesday, eight TDs from the Dáil Éireann, Ireland’s lower house in its legislature, visited a young man who was arrested in Egypt in August 2013 and has been held in prison ever since: Ibrahim Halawa. The TDs also met with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who told them that he could not intervene on behalf of the young prisoner, but that upon the conclusion of his trial Halawa would be free to return to Ireland.

Ibrahim Halawa is a citizen of Ireland, born there in 1995 and raised there. His family is Egyptian, and he and his sisters traveled to Egypt in the summer of 2013 and took part in the protests riling that nation that summer. The previous president, Mohamed Morsi, had been kicked out of office in a coup, and everyday citizens who support democracy joined with Morsi’s supporters and with actual members of his political party, the Muslim Brotherhood, in the street protests.
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January 14 in History

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Today, also known as The Today Show, NBC’s several-hour morning news program, debuted 65 years ago … um, on this date.

The show was created by Sylvester Weaver, who also created programs with counterpart names: Tonight, which also lives on, and Tomorrow, which lives on in the spirit of late-late-night talk programs.
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Raif Badawi’s Ordeal

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Raif Badawi remains in prison. Raif Badawi still awaits 950 lashes with a whip. Raif Badawi remains in danger …

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June 17, 2017, marks five years in prison for Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian writer who is in jail for writing.

There is no new news to report regarding Raif’s condition. The absence of news is a heavy, ever-present reminder that Raif Badawi is always in imminent danger of his punishment being resumed. Saudi Arabia has never publicly stated any intention to free him, reduce his ten-year sentence, or show him any leniency. He is always in imminent danger.
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