Mohamed ElGohary

The revolution initiating moment in V for Vendetta

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine. The security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration whereby important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful, bloody struggle are celebrated with a nice holiday. I thought we could mark this November the 5th. A day that is, sadly, no longer remembered by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. Even now, orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way.

Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation. Words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of Surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Certainly there are those who are more responsible than others and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night, I sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of what it has forgotten.

More than 400 years ago, a great citizen wished to imbed the 5th of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words. They are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest that you allow the 5th of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek then I ask you to stand beside me, one year from tonight outside the gates of Parliament and together, we shall give them a 5th of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

Laila is a symbol used by bloggers for females. The 9th of September is the anniversary of the blogging campaign by mainly the Egyptian blogosphere with the contribution from other bloggers as well, with some reflections even in the western blogosphere

Anyway, for me I consider it as a try for defending and calling for women rights. Well I consider it as a kind of virtual feminist activism. In my world, the Arab world, I don't like feminist activism that much for several reasons. Maybe for the bad history of the official governmental feminist activity. As they never look for example for the abuse done by the police force against many women, be it physical abuse or sexual abuse. Police use women as a reguler practice to get their men when they are among suspects by very humuliating methods, like walking with them naked in the streets and raping them to force their men to go to the police force or to confess about committing crimes they are entirely not related to it. So what I think is that, females and males in our society are under the same sun, under the same type of injustice, intolerance and oppression.

I'm with the freedom and human rights of all, not specifically women.

From Arabist

I must say I salute the bravery of Police Major Samawal Abu Sehla, who is not afraid to attack unarmed protestors, and kidnap them from their cars, and take part in sodomizing them later in police stations… Yet he shies away and keeps trying to hide his face with a green dossier when chased with the bloggers’ digital cameras….

Keep on photographing the dog and profiling his friends ya shabab…. Good job…!

Make sure you also check out my little flickr shrine dedicated to all the dogs in service of Mubarak and his family…

And here’s a little gift to Abu Sehla… some labor of love… I call this movie: “3awdet el-Kalb Abu Se7la” (The Return of the Dog Abu Sehla)

Next Sunday at the High Judicial Court, 10:30 am. Another session of the law-suit against Islam Nabih

Please come.

For previous Arabic coverages and videos, please click here.

WARNING: This post contains shocking pictures, not to be viewed for those under 18 years old.

I was shocked to see this news at Wael Abbas. For several days now I wondered who will have the power to translate this atrocity. Especially while viewing the horrible crimes committed on the body of the, now deceased, 12 year old.

This innocent boy entered the police station alive and left it as a dead body with all the signs of torture and pain. The following pictures are really shocking and appalling, so people with a light heart should heed my warning.

The minister of interior affairs’ assistant denies all that has happened, the photos that follow show such claims to be a lie.

The official report said that Mohamed Mamdouh did not have any signs of torture on his body, and that the cause of his death was due to heart failure

However, his body suffered from burns, fractures, serious injuries from electric shock to his buttocks and his testicles

These photos were taken 12 hours before his death.

Mohamed’s mother says:

My son went to the police station safe and sound. They cut open my son’s side in the station. Captain Sayed from Mansoura’s station is the one who took him from our home with 4 detectives to the police station. I shouted in the station so the police commissioner sent my son to the Chest Hospital. The doctor said, “This boy has undergone an operation”. My son had an operation in the station? The boy’s body is full of burns, and his back is broken. I sent him to the University Hospital. They said his back was opened in a wrong way and after that they kicked him out.

The Hospital sent the boy with a special car to the Mansoura microbus station “ElDerasat”. He was thrown out of the car, nearly dead, and some people passing by him took him to his home. He has been in this condition for the past two days. What will I do? I know no VIPs to ask for help and I sold everything I have. I’m heavily in debt, I have 5 children and I’m facing being jailed in any moment for this debt. His brother Ibrahim Mamdouh is still in the station. They will do to him what they did to his brother. Everybody in the station suffers likewise, my son and others’ sons. What will I say after my sons are gone? Since my husband’s death, no one supports me, I’m in debt and I’m always humiliated.

When I left him in the hospital they kicked him out. They said they kicked him out because he was cutting the mattresses. Is he able to move in the first place to cut the mattresses? He says: “The male nurse put me in the car and they threw me in the microbus station. Some kind man gave me a ride to “Mahallet Demna”. And another kind man gave him a ride by the toc toc (a motorcycle used as a small taxi, commonly used in the country side) to home”. “Someone told me your son is in the chest hospital”, she continues, “I went to the male nurses they told me it is not allowed to sit with him because this is the Heart Section”.

This is an electricity burn, his backbone is broken, and his side is cut wide. Are there operations done in the police station? The chest hospital kicked him out. The physician in the university was astonished, “This is not an operation, someone hit him with something”, he said. Please God have revenge from all the police service in that station. I don’t have anything to sell. I don’t have a bathroom and I get water from outside.

I don’t know what to say, I don’t know how can the tax-payers around the world agrees that their countries support dictators around the world while they call for democracy and human rights. See what is the result of this support? The photos say enough.

In the end I'd like thank my friend for helping me in editing this translation.

Update:

I found out about a video, an interview with the mother, in arabic

Part 1 – Part 2

The speech I always love, from V for Vendetta

In view a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.

A tag from Sha2loob :

1) What is your blog name?
Politikia

2) Why did you choose it? What is the purpose of choosing it?
Because I like writing in politics and fields related to it.

3) Did you ever think about closing your blog? Why?
No, I never thought of that. Because I think that closing a blog is a very silly decision whatever the reasons behind it.

4) The picture in my blog, and the meaning of its symbolism?
It is from my favourite movie, V for Vendetta. You got to see it :).

5) Why did you enter blogging?
Because I had a big dream of mine to choose a place where I can publish my political writings. Specially with a place like Egypt where it is very hard to publish politics in the teens media (since political students I guess are the most dangerous, maybe due to their effect in everyday life. The most active political activity in the Egyptian history was usually originated by students. Even in France, I remember how a law connected with labour issues was cancelled due to massive demonstrations against it.

6) Any importance for comments from your point of view?
Of course comments are very important to me, but it does not depress me if there is no comments, since my posts are not that personal usually. Maybe they are considered as articles in a newspaper more than a personal opinion. This is when I don’t blog about personal stuff.

7) Best post you wrote, with a link and why?
I guess there is nothing called the best piece for a writer unless he stopped writing for a reason or another.

8) Best post you read, again with a link and why?
Best in what scope exactly? You can not compare an emotional post with a post talking about physics for example.

9) What is the best blog you read?
Same reply to the previous question.

10) Ever saw any impudent comment? What was your reaction?
I saw radical replies sometimes, but I always discuss. Though I confess I sometimes become violent :D.

11) Worst blog you ever read?
A lot, esp radical blogs. Specially leftist radical blogs, religious radical is second, in any religion. (With noticing that radical Islamism to me is very different that fundamentalist Islamism. Since fundamentalism is sometimes a huge misconception used by western thinkers and imitated blindly by eastern, or in other words, Arab thinkers)

12) What will happen to your email after you die?
I don’t know, depends on what happen before I die. Maybe I will give it to those who are the closest to my heart before it. So that I an be that great person LOL.

13) Did you ever give your password to anyone before?
I have like 10 passwords or something, which password exactly do you mean?

14) What is the kind of relation between you and him/her?
See above.

15) What is your real name?
Not to be disclosed.

16) What are you known with among your friends?
Refer to above.

17) Your character type?
Thinker. Effective when becoming an enemy to somebody, usually not dirty. Emotional to close friends.

18) Travelling for you?
A constant activity.

19) What do you do in your freetime?
Reading. Computers.

20) Your mood?
Stable, I’m not a moody person.

21) Favourite kind of food?
a) Fatoosh and Taboolah (Lebanese salads)
b) Grilled meat. (Esp when I do it)
c) French fries. (Only when I do it :P)

22) What did you inherit from your father?
Rough way of discussion with people close to me (Trying to change it as long as I can)

23) Your mother?
Good leader (Not always)

24) What are the most six things you like?
Computers. Books. Food. Sleeping. Walking by the Nile. Art.

25) What are the most six things you hate?
Bad media. Injustice. Triviality. Politics when connected with money and Arm/Drug dealing. Ignorance in ALL scopes.

26) What is work for you?
Responsibility and money.

27) Internet for you?
Everything.

28) Tag who?
Anyone who will read this.

STOP THE GOVERNMENT INTERNET LIMITATIONS

SIGN HERE

http://www.petitiononline.com/qwertrew/petition.html

http://www.mesh-gayeb.com/

http://netegypt.ch/

According to Nawara, who recieved an email from Gamal Eid, Executive Director at the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. This wonderful blog is threatened to be blocked by the Jordanian government, please support this blog by linking to it.

Thank you very much.

It seems that robbing the material of blogs will never stop, esp with the absence of laws controlling electronic content. This person stole some posts from several blogs like this one.

Please spread the news and put it on your own blogs. Thank you very much.

Other Coverages:

1. Nawara Negm (Arabic, including videos from the trial)
2. Ahmed Abdul Fattah (Arabic)
3. Wael Abbas (Arabic)
4. Takhareefy (Arabic)
5. Sokoot Hansawat (Arabic)
6. Egypt WatchMan (Arabic)

new coverages will follow.

I went to the court to attend the trial of Captain Islam Nabih and Corporal Reda Fat'hi who are accused of torturing and sodomizing driver Emad ElKebeer, I arrived at the High Judicial House at 10:00 am then walked around until the beginning of the trial. Then I found Ahmed Abdel Fattah walking around. On our entrance the security on the door of the hall asked us who we were, we told him journalists and we forgot our IDs. We entered then witnessing two trials of obviously false law-suits (confession under torture). Then came another 2 bloggers, Sokoot Hansawat and Mariam. After them at 11:30 came the infamous Islam with nearly a dozen of black-suited soldiers distributing them in a weird way, seemly to put obstacles in front of the video cameras or something. Also I wanted to record that the security prevented any media existence nearly 10 meters near Islam, to the extent that the security shouted at a photographer to get away.

When the trial started, the team of lawyers defending Islam kept attacking the Human Rights organisations, accusing them with the infamous accusation of defaming Egypt's reputation, and getting foreign funds (as if the government never gets them with huge amounts). They also accusing them with that they do not care about the Human Rights but just use them for the sake of their benefits.

And from what is mentioned that these organisations wanted to prevent Egypt from having a seat in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

And to prevent people from thinking that this team is attacking the idea of promoting Human Rights, they handled in (ironically) a paper signed from some judges (as far as I can remember) and was supposed to be published in the national newspapers, as a call to the Egyptian People's Assembly to issue a law to ban foreign funding, esp from USA. (really Ironic, Egypt is the second country getting aid from USA after Israel, military aid and economic aid. Around 1.5 Billion $ annually. With total of 25 Billion $ from 1975 to 2002)

Then came some non-sense, that the Fagr weekly newspaper which mentioned news about the torture incident, was published 2 days before its supposed date, and according to this they claimed that the news was fabricated (I really don't know what is the connection).

Some other non-sense, one of the team stated that they don't watch TV thanks for being so busy with their work as a lawyer, but for the mere chance he was so ill so he opened the TV watching Orbit, in the Qahera AlYoum show (Cairo Today) and he found out that he was accused in assaulting 2 families (which was done with preparation with defence lawyers team, since in the statements of the arrested and the witnesses in the Police interrogations Emad was not there).

Wael Abbas was mentioned as a Human Rights organisation (now this is amusing), mentioning that he made a call in his blog to the United Nations for an international investigation for late Sadat assassination, sometimes I really hate lawyers.

Then came the responsible for defending Corporal Reda Fat'hi obeyed the orders of Islam Nabih to torture Emad ElKebeer, the man was not that mean really and all his talk was about technical details about supposed errors in the investigation and interrogations papers and so but what made me laugh was his comparing the historical example of seizing Benjamin's royal cup when he was arrested in Egypt with the inability of Emad to prove that the one who was mentioned in the video was Reda.

After all this, the prosecutor asked for a postponing to have a look at the papers handled by the defence team, immediately one of the team suggested cancelling the handling of the papers (since the judicial session will end due to their vacation and will resume in September) and they objected this because according to them the accused Islam Nabih will stay in custody for more than the supposed penalty. As if they are so sure that he will be innocent from the sexual assault accusation.

In the end I want to mention that I was happy to meet Ahmed Abdul Fattah, Sokoot Hansawat, Mariam, Nawara Negm, Mina and Asad. Thanks for coming :).