Egyptian Facebook activists jailed for being a threat to security

Jul 24, 2008, 18:59 GMT

Cairo - Egyptian authorities Thursday jailed 14 internet activists in the coastal city of Alexandria for two weeks and accused them of being a threat to national security and calling people to demonstrate.

Around 30 activists, who belong to the 'April 6 group', were jailed for protesting by singing nationalistic songs while walking by the beach and causing a traffic jam.

The Egyptian government, which has governed for 25 years under emergency law, does not allow more than five people to gather unregistered.

The 'April 6' is a group on the social networking website Facebook that had earlier this year called for a strike against rising prices. They have urged people to stay at home on the same day.

The Facebook group was very popular, attracting more than 70,000 members. The strike was held in solidarity with al-Mahalla textile workers who announced they will go on strike on that same day. The call was later adopted by opposition groups.

Although the streets were nearly empty that day, the April 6 strike played out most intensely in the Nile Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kobra where protestors clashed with security forces.

Esraa Abdel Fattah, the 27-year-old woman who set up the April 6 group, was detained at the time but freed after her mother made an appeal to the Egyptian Minister of Interior.

Another group administrator, Ahmed Maher was kidnapped in Cairo before allegedly being beaten intermittently by State Security Investigations for 12 hours. He was eventually released without charge.

Meanwhile, at least 20 young Egyptians protested against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime and demanded the release of their colleagues or else they will go on strike in front of the prosecutor's office.