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Press release : 26/2/2000
More restrictions on the freedom of expression the case of Salah El Din Mouhsin In a clear violation of articles 44 and 47 of the Egyptian Constitution which guarantee freedom of expression and the right of all people to freely make his or her opinion public by any means, the high state security prosecution issued a decision to imprison Salah ElDin Mouhsin for 30 days. The charge against him was the violation of paragraph "9" in article 98 of the criminal law. Violation of this law is punishable by imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years and carries a fine of 500 to 1000 LE for any person who exploits religion by propagating verbally, in writing or by any other means extremist ideas with the intention of causing harm or humiliation to one of the official religions or with the intention of harming national unity or disturbing the peace. It was the view of the prosecution that the opinions expressed in the author's latest book entitled "Enlightened movements" violated article 98. The author was arrested on March the 10th at his home and all copies of the book that were found were seized. The investigation began with his being accused of alleged defamation of Islam. The High state security prosecution then ruled that he should be imprisoned for 15 days pending the investigation. The Association for Human Rights Legal Aid (AHRLA) would like to reaffirm that such steps represent a violation of articles 18 and 19 of the International covenant on civil and political rights which assure the guarantee of freedom of thought, religion and belief. According to this covenant, it is the right of every human being to not only embrace opinions without impediment but also to have freedom in expressing beliefs or ideas by any means chosen. It is well known that the ICCPR guarantees these freedoms and that by Egypt's consenting to this covenant, it became a national law, which must be abided by. The Association would like to draw the attention of the adviser to the public prosecutor's office to the necessity of issuing a declaration for the release of the writer Salah El Din Mouhsin. We also appeal to the Egyptian legislator to clarify the structure of Egyptian law which impedes freedom of opinion, expression and belief and which contradicts Egypt's international commitments. Let dialogue be the means by which intellectual differences are solved. Finally, we appeal to all civil society activists to stand in solidarity with us for the purpose of obtaining the release of the writer Salah El Din Mouhsin. |