#Morsi_Trial : Another trial for another president

I read this tweet today “Egyptians used to call the trial of Mubarak as the trial of the century , what will they call the trial of Morsi tomorrow !?”

Yes once again in less than four years Egypt an Egyptian president stands a trial. The first is Mubarak and the second is Morsi. Mohamed Morsi will stand a trial along other 14 defendants from his aides , Muslim brotherhood officials and Islamist figures. Some of them are runaways thus they will stand a trial in absentia.

Morsi and other defendants are standing a trial for the incitement to kill the protesters in the Presidential Palace clashes last 5 December 2012. I can not forget that day or the what led to it and what happened afterwards.

The trial supposedly will start at 9 AM . Unfortunately we will not see this trial live as the judge ordered that there would be no cameras or mobile phones in the court room. Nevertheless some sources said that the trial would be recorded by the Egyptian TV and then it would be aired after being edited !! Oh yes edited !! The reason given in the press that Morsi may reveal state’s secrets on air !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its location was changed at the last moment from Tora to Egypt’s favorite place to HAVE TRIALS  : The Police academy in New Cairo. Needless to say the Appeal court announced too late after the announcement of ministry of interior that they will block traffic in Tora and Maadi corniche.

Helwan university also announced that it would suspend study in its faculties in campus on Monday. Several schools specifically the private and international schools will suspend study for fear of the Muslim brotherhood protests.

The Muslim brotherhood announced on its official website that there would be protests in solidarity with Morsi against his trial. It is expected as it was announced before.

Let’s be frank no one has started the polarization in Egypt that has reached to its climax now except the Muslim brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi with his ill fated bloody Constitutional declaration.

Morsi is not Salvador Allende nor Nelson Mandela as he is being described by his supporters now , he and his brotherhood did horrifying mistakes thinking that Egypt was another syndicate they won its elections.

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And The Military court gives Mohamed Sabry Suspended Jail Term

An Ismailia military court sentenced Sinai based journalist and dear friend Mohamed Sabry a suspended six months in jail for filming military areas in Sinai.

Sabry, a Sinai based journalist and a member of the “No to military trials” campaign was arrested in January 2013 and was accused of filming military areas on the borders.

This is the third military court’s verdict concerning an Egyptian journalist issued by a military court in less than a month. He is also the first journalist from Sinai to be prosecuted in front of military court. Sabry was arrested in time of Morsi too.

By the way Sabry’s camera, a Canon 6D was confiscated since his arrest and has not been returned to him yet.

On 5 October, a military court sentenced Sinai-based Al Masry Al Youm newspaper journalist Ahmed Abu-Deraa. Six months in jail. That sentence was later suspended. Abu Daraa was accused of publishing false news and rumors about military operations in Sinai. Abu Daraa praised the military judiciary after his release !!

Last 30 October, another military court sentenced Al Watan newspaper journalist Hatem Abu Nour to a year in prison on Tuesday over allegations that he impersonated military personnel. Abu Nour’s story is very strange because we did not know about it except after his sentence.

Searching online you will find that Hatem disappeared from last August and his brother accused the MB to stand his disappearance then !!

The too close to the military and security apparatuses newspaper Al Watan is now demanding its journalist release.  

The military trials for civilians have been causing a controversy recently as human rights activists demand to ban the military trials for civilians in the upcoming amended constitution.

It is one of the major points the army is insisting in the constitution. For record the Freedoms and rights committee is against it.

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Solar Eclipse in #Egypt

Here is a slide show for the Solar Eclipse in Egypt by photographers and citizen journalists as well mostly in Cairo and Giza. They are beautiful.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring the battery of the camera with me but I took a snapshot after the eclipse with my mobile phone , it is more of romantic scene !! You will find my shot in the slide show. 

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Links and Notes 11/03/2013

• Nubia: 50 years of displacement - Special Files - Folk - Ahram Online

  A fantastic report about the Nubian displacement in Egypt. It is a must read

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN

• تفويضكم يقتلنا.. | المصري اليوم

  Since 3 July 2013 and Egyptian journalists as well Egyptian media are paying the price in Egypt. A powerful and important op-ed by Shaher Eiyad in Arabic

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Media

• Syrian asylum seekers: Lost at sea, barred from land - Region - World - Ahram Online

  The agony of the Syrian refugees.

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Syria Refugees

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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No #BassemYoussef This weekend or next week, someone fears a little joke "Updated"

Doaa El Adl's latest cartoon about Bassem

And millions waited for Bassem Youssef and his show “El Bernmag” tonight and their wait was in vain because CBC network decided to cancel his episode. After few hours , the channel announced that it was going to suspend the show.
You can imagine the uproar and anger this move created among the show’s loyal fans especially from revolutionaries.
The Pro-Mubarak/Military/ElSisi fans are happy and they can not deny where as the Muslim brotherhood/Islamist fans are reminding us on how there was more freedom of expression in time of Morsi. “Despite Bassem Youssef was being sued for insulting the president as well Blasphemy”
Several political and media figures including those supporting El-Sisi are against the decision of the channel.
Bassem Youssef is already in Abu Dhabi and his mobile phone  is closed. The CBC issued a statement about its decision. Here it is.

We were surprised with the media content delivered to us today in the show "al Bernmag" as it violated what was mentioned in CBC's last statement about the show.The violations show that the producer of the show and its presenter Dr. Bassem Youssef were not committed to the editorial policies of CBC channels. Being committed to CBC editorial policies was mentioned in the signed contract between us and the show producer. We drew the attention of the show's producer and its presenter after airing the last episode that they should be committed to what was issued in the channel's statement. In addition the producer did not present to the channel all the episodes of the previous season despite he received all the sums agreed in the contract and even asked for more sums in order to produce additional episodes ; the thing that is considered another violation to the contract. Thus CBC decided to suspend the show till all the technical and commercial problems are solved.

Mohamed El Amin , the CEO of CBC

So Bassem Youssef’s show is suspended till further notice !!
Wow now CBC remembered that there were episodes from last season that were not presented by the producer !! I remember in one of the interviews Bassem Youssef stated that the CBC budget allocated to the show was not enough to produce such show in this way !!
I do not know how Bassem Youssef and his producer are going to work again with CBC next Week.
Well Monatesser El Zayat , the famous Islamist lawyer who is claiming to be Bassem Youssef’s lawyer “I am not sure about this” said on Al Nahar channel TV that Youssef’s contract with CBC stated that there were no restrictions what so ever on the show or its content.
According to Big Pharaoh who attended the show’s shooting last Wednesday , Bassem did not speak about about El Sisi but he rather spoke about the media reaction in Egypt about his season premiere as well Al Jazeera Channel’s media bias. Big Pharaoh also added that in the third part of the episode Bassem slammed CBC for their disgraceful statement last week.

OK since several of the people who attended the shooting are already talking, I too attended, he did bash CBC real hard.
— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) November 1, 2013

In the episode, Basem Yousef did not touch Sisi. He did bash CBC and expose its double standards.
— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) November 1, 2013

Screenwriter Khaled Diab said on his twitter account that sources in CBC told him that CBC board decided to suspend Bassem Youssef’s show three days ago in order to avoid any future mocking or criticism of El Sisi.
For the record Bassem Youssef mocked CBC and its hosts in his season 2 premiere from a year ago on its screen. 
The reactions have not stopped up till now. #BassemYoussef and his show as well #El Sisi  are trending on twitter in Egypt now are according to Trends map.

Egypt's trends map

They are also trending in Lebanon and Jordan.

In Jordan and Lebanon

Some journalists are quoting military sources that the army had nothing to do with suspending the show.
People are attacking CBC on its official Facebook. Also another group of angry viewers made a Facebook page calling the people to erase the channel from their receivers in solidarity with Bassem Youssef.
Our former vice President also commented about the suspension of the show.

حرية التعبير هي أم الحريات . اذا اقتصرت علي من نتفق معهم فهي شعار أجوف. الشجاعة هي في الدفاع عنها وليست في قمعها. تحية وتقدير لباسم يوسف
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) November 1, 2013

The freedom of expression is the mother of all freedoms. If it is only limited to those who we agree with then it is an empty slogan. It is bravery to defend it and not to suppress it. Respect and appreciation to Bassem Youssef.

Of course people are attacking ElBaradei as usual claiming that he neglected all the problems of Egypt and cared only for a silly TV show. It is not about a silly TV show I am afraid but rather freedom of expression.
Thanks to CBC’s hypocrisy days before Morsi’s trial , the military will find themselves in a deep shit internationally. Already AP and Reuters have run stories in no time on how the world famous satirist was cancelled.
Now people are comparing on how there were more freedoms in time of Morsi  when there is none in time of the interim government aka in time of El-Sisi as now comparisons are being done in real time in social media. Now the world will see what happened in Egypt as a coup more and more , no PR company will help whitewashing your tarnished the interim government. The Muslim brotherhood internationally is thanking Mohamed El Amin and the CBC morons for this golden opportunity to prove that Morsi was much more welcoming to opposite views !!
I am already waiting for John Stewart and his two cents about his friend in Egypt.
It is enough that Reem Magued is absent and now Bassem Youssef’s show is cancelled this weekend , I wonder what will happen to Yosri Fouda when he returns to ONTV later this month !!
Updated on 3/11 : 
The Egyptian presidency says that it has nothing to do with the decision of the channel as it is an internal decision of CBC. 
Bassem Youssef's crew issued a statement and comparing to that scandalous statement of CBC , it is very reasonable.  
According to the statement that was published in the official Facebook page , the show's crew members were not notified that the channel suspended the show and they knew the news just like anyone else in Egypt from TV. 

Post by ‎البرنامج؟‎.

The statement also stressed that the show's production company "Qsoft" had abided to the agreements with CBC contrary what the channel claimed. Nevertheless the show's crew announced that it would not make any further statements to the media for fear it would harm "the company's position". 
Knowning the deep shit they made the CBC is trying to play nice now , its TV hosts issued a statement claiming that they were standing with Bassem !!

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#Hala’ib Triangle in Photos : Shalateen Port by Yasser El Rasoul

As expected after raising the disputed Hala’ib triangle in the Egyptian media thanks to El Bashir’s officials statements earlier this year , it is no longer on radar and the neglected disputed rich-in much need of development is back to the abyss of oblivion. 

Well I did not forget this area and today I share with you those photos from there giving you a glimpse of the neglected triangle there. The photos are taken by photographer Yasser El Rasoul in 2012. I gathered the photos from his Facebook Page in to storify Slideshows to be published in a series through out this week here in the Egyptian Chronicles.

I will start the series with photos from Shalateen Port in the city of Shalateen.

Here is Shalateen port on the map.

 

Only last September 2013 the minister of transportation in the interim government agreed to found an international marine port in Shalateen.

Yasser El Rasoul took over 100 photos from different areas in the triangle. Of course I must hint out that he is one of the best photographers in Egypt to use HDR in nature photos. These photos should not be only published on Facebook but rather in some Egyptian National Geographic if we are speaking seriously.

They are amazing photos and honestly I will use them in order to make you back here and read more about that part of Egypt.

You can go to Shalateen easily.According to my friends who went there , there are two humble hotels there.

Insh Allah One day I visit this place with my little camera and document life there in Egyptian Chronicles. It is on my bucket list. Hopefully soon insh Allah I will make it.

This series is dedicated to late Mindy Bahaa El Din.Her birthday is today. 

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Links and Notes 11/01/2013

• US defence minister talks with El-Sisi - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

  The calls do not stop between the ministry of defence in Cairo and Pentagon in Washington D.C

  tags: Egypt ElSisi Hagel US #DWC #LN

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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