# Democracy Egyptian style



## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Eng. Ahmed Sabry. Ex-IBM and Ex-Microsoft employee has been arrested yesterday while standing outside military court in support of arrested civilian protesters being taken to military trial. He has now been sent to 15 days jail awaiting trial accused of "unlawful protesting".


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## Qsw (Feb 1, 2012)

MaidenScotland said:


> Eng. Ahmed Sabry. Ex-IBM and Ex-Microsoft employee has been arrested yesterday while standing outside military court in support of arrested civilian protesters being taken to military trial. He has now been sent to 15 days jail awaiting trial accused of "unlawful protesting".


Because people never get arrested for unlawful protesting in democratic countries... 

Not that I know anything about this guy's case, but I find it amusing that you label it as "Egyptian Democracy". Is there really a need for Egyptian bashing?

There's still a lot of work necessary to get a functional democracy in Egypt, I think everybody who understands the political scene here knows that. 

Also, where someone used to work shouldn't have any bearing on what sort of offences he is accused of or arrested for, I don't see why it's included in the report.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Qsw said:


> Because people never get arrested for unlawful protesting in democratic countries...
> 
> Not that I know anything about this guy's case, but I find it amusing that you label it as "Egyptian Democracy". Is there really a need for Egyptian bashing?
> 
> ...




How can protesting be unlawful? that is what I am getting at.
He can come to court in 15 days??? yet other well publicised cases are taking months.

Peoples occupation is often mentioned in reports like this.


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## Qsw (Feb 1, 2012)

MaidenScotland said:


> How can protesting be unlawful? that is what I am getting at.
> He can come to court in 15 days??? yet other well publicised cases are taking months.
> 
> Peoples occupation is often mentioned in reports like this.


Protesting can be unlawful if it is done at the wrong place and/or wrong time. A small, peaceful protest in front of a military court could potentially lead to a fight breaking out, or a larger protest that could be seen as threatening, even if the intention is peaceful. I doubt he was just standing around not doing anything, even doing just that for a long time in front of a military institution would be suspicious. 

I remember back when the Republican convention was being held in the Twin Cities, many protesters were arrested and there were issues keeping the protest peaceful and organized. These types of arrests have happened in the UK as well, I think most democracies have rules about protesting.

I'm not sure why this case is being rushed, I'm guessing it's because the army wants to show it won't be tolerant of protests at its institutions, and maybe because they want to show they are working on speeding up cases. I hope all the trials are sped up and justice is delivered, with everything that entails. 

The vast majority of Egyptians will not tolerate people protesting in front of military institutions, especially after the events at the defence ministry. Most Egyptians want normal, peaceful elections, and after those occur we can hopefully start to rectify some of the problems that came up during the transitional period. Although now the parliament seems to be a mess in general, so it will be a while before things are really sorted out.

I fully support protests that have legitimate issues, but protests should always be held away from military institutions.


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## hhaddad (Apr 14, 2010)

I think that calling it Democracy Egyptian style is wrong as* I was at *the *anti* *Vietnam* *war* march on the US embassy in Grosvenor Square, *London*, March 1968. When the old Bill came to break it up using their truncheons which they beat me with and I responded with a bit of 4 by 2 which was at hand got me 6 weeks. The fact is that police aggression is not new and not confined to this country. In the sixties and seventies the police in Berkshire used to patrole in a van pull us in the back of it beat us up and throw us back on the street.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

hhaddad said:


> I think that calling it Democracy Egyptian style is wrong as* I was at *the *anti* *Vietnam* *war* march on the US embassy in Grosvenor Square, *London*, March 1968. When the old Bill came to break it up using their truncheons which they beat me with and I responded with a bit of 4 by 2 which was at hand got me 6 weeks. The fact is that police aggression is not new and not confined to this country. In the sixties and seventies the police in Berkshire used to patrole in a van pull us in the back of it beat us up and throw us back on the street.




And if I had read about that I would have said..... Democracy British style


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## aykalam (Apr 12, 2010)

Qsw said:


> I'm not sure why this case is being rushed, I'm guessing it's because the army wants to show it won't be tolerant of protests at its institutions, and maybe because they want to show they are working on speeding up cases. I hope all the trials are sped up and justice is delivered, with everything that entails.


Court adjourns police beating compensation case... to December

Court adjourns police beating compensation case to December | Egypt Independent

Not exactly speeding up cases, right?

As they say, justice delayed is justice denied


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