US media is reporting that an Egyptian activist accused of insulting Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and “spreading false news” has been convicted and given a six-month suspended sentence. According to the AP report, an Arab Human Rights organization said that the number of court cases and complaints involving charges of insulting the president is four times that during the rule of the former President Mubarak:
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian activist was convicted of insulting the president and spreading false news and given a six-month suspended sentence on Monday, Egypt’s state-run news agency said.
Ahmed Douma is the first prominent critic of President Mohammed Morsi to be convicted on the charge. Several journalists, TV presenters and other individuals have also been facing similar accusations.
At a packed courthouse in a Cairo suburb, Douma flashed a V-for-victory sign from behind bars as activists clapped and chanted: ‘Why is the government afraid of you Douma?’
Douma was charged after he called Morsi criminal and illegitimate after a deadly security crackdown on protesters in the coastal city of Port Said that left 40 people dead in February. He also criticized Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group for being behind a bloody raid against peaceful protesters outside Morsi’s office last year.
Morsi’s government accuses its opponents of fueling unrest to undermine his rule. The opposition charges that Morsi and his group seek to monopolize power and are marginalizing even those who helped bring down longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in the 2011 uprising.
Rights groups say that more than 2,300 protesters and activists remain either detained or facing trial since January, most of them for staging anti-government protests, some of which turned violent.
The Arab Network for Human Rights Information Center said in a recent report that the number of court cases and complaints involving charges of insulting the president during Morsi’s 10 months in power is four times the number filed during Mubarak’s rule of nearly 30 years.”
A post from May 2013 reported that that Reporters Without Borders had added the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to their list of ‘Predators of Freedom of Information’ for 2013.
Another post from May 2013 reported that almost one third of the adviser appointed by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi have resigned.
