Egyptian judge frees anti-junta blogger

Alaa Abd El Fattah was detained for two months, pending investigation into charges that he incited violence against military

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 25 December 2011

"One of Egypt's most prominent revolutionaries has been released from jail after almost two months during which he missed the birth of his first child.

An Egyptian investigative judge ordered that Alaa Abd El Fattah, who has been at the forefront of anti-regime struggles for a decade and was a political prisoner during the Mubarak era, be freed pending investigation into charges that he incited violence against the military.

A picture posted by his sister Mona Seif showed him holding his new-born son Khaled on his release. His wife Manal Hassan, who is also an activist, gave birth to the couple's first child while he was in detention.

Military prosecutors detained Abd El Fattah on 30 October after he refused to answer questions about their allegations that he played a role in clashes during a march by Coptic Christians on 9 October. At least 27 people, most of them Christians, were killed. Abd El Fattah was among those who spoke out against the army's involvement in the violence, which was confirmed by multiple witness reports and video footage. But the military has accused Abd El Fattah of inciting Christian protesters to attack the soldiers.....

Abd El Fattah, 30, belongs to a family of activists who used his detention to draw international attention to the plight of thousands of civilians hauled by the ruling generals before military courts. At least 12,000 Egyptians have been tried before military courts since late January."