Allegedly subversive Facebook activity lands 3 people in jail

The Egyptian authorities have arrested three people in Giza, Cairo, and Daqahlia on charges of using Facebook pages to incite against national institutions, local media reported on Saturday.

The three allegedly administer a total of 23 Facebook pages that the authorities believe have been used to incite against national institutions, publishing false news concerning a number of detainees. The Facebook posts claim the detainees have been jailed for political reasons, while the authorities say they are detained for criminal offences.

Partial details of the three people arrested – one woman and two men – have been published: a 27-year-old male technician with the initials M.R. living in Cairo; a 27-year-old male student with the initials G.M. living in Giza; and a 26-year-old female engineer called Eman M. who lives in Belqas, Daqahlia governorate, north-east of Cairo.

The three have been referred to the prosecution for further investigation.

Eman is charged with administering 11 of the 23 pages herself, according to media reports.

Eman's sister, Zahra, told Mada Masr that she was arrested at her home at 3 am last Tuesday, December 29, adding that she was dumbfounded as to why the security forces would arrest her sister who "has no political affiliations."

Zahra also said that Eman has been suffering in prison due to being locked up with criminals, and also because of her need for medications for diabetes.

“She is diabetic. Her health has deteriorated, and she has been transferred to an Intensive Care Unit,” said Zahra.

Eman's lawyer, Emad Hegazy, explained how the woman came to be arrested: "Security forces followed the IP address, and first came for her father, as the landline was registered in his name. After inspecting the laptops, they found that Eman has ‘liked’ a number of anti-regime Facebook pages, and so they arrested her."

Hegazy clarified that according to the investigation records, the charges pressed against Eman included "Liking a number of Facebook pages that incite against the current regime and national institutions."

National Security Agency records pressed a second charge of “Belonging to a legally prohibited group (the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood).”

The final charges to be brought against Eman have not yet been clarified, as the prosecution is still at the stage of conducting investigations and interrogations.

Eman has denied all the charges pressed against her so far.

On Tuesday, Mansoura's Court of Cassation ordered Eman's release. She had previously been released on bail of LE1,000 on Monday but prosecution appealed the decision. In Tuesday's court session, the judge deemed the prosecution's earlier appeal against her release “unlawful” Eman's lawyer told Mada Masr. “She will finally be reunited with her family tomorrow,” he added.

A number of Eman's Facebook friends have expressed concerns for her health, while one described her as "a very simple girl who comes from a very kind family."

Eman’s lawyer remains hopeful she will be released soon, saying that she has been allowed visits from her family. He confirmed that the prison authorities allowed her to be transferred to hospital after her blood sugar levels increased dramatically.