Manal and Alaa's bit bucket free speech from the bletches

my dad (Ahmed Seif Al Islam not Al Bana) has a magical touch, any laptop he uses is immediatly transformed into a threat to National/Mubarak security, or so it seems. the poor guy lost three laptops in a few months, last one wasn't even his.

now considering how much money he makes out of pro bono work I can't even imagine how he managed to get hold of three laptops, maybe thats the new approach for amn el dawla bankrupt activists by stealing their laptops.

this whole thing started on my last birthday, we had a wild party and decided to finish the night in a feloka, so we left the flat at 2am but where back one hour later (the felokas where sleeping) to find the door broken, nothing was missing save for a mobile phone.

ok most probably a stoned theif or something, there wasn't anything of value anyway, but a couple of weeks later they broke into my parents house, this time they got a laptop.

ok we suspect nothing, just a theif, maybe the dog decided to do its job for a change and the guy freaked out, but yesterday they broke into my parents place again (not broke in, they obviously had a key) and ran away with the laptop, this time there is no doubt about it.

if only dad would listen to me, he should have installed GNU/Linux, the mother fuckers (literaly) are idiots it would take them years to figure out what to do with it.

here is my dad's response

Your message was clear

My response is: I shall not be silenced

Let my blood contribute to the redness of the rose of freedom

Tyrants, pharaohs of Egypt.

I have received your message when you violated the privacy of my home in mid day on the 21st of February 2005. this time your message was clear and obvious in its meaning and intent, no longer obscure like earlier ones which could have tolerated several interpretations.

My answer is simple and humane and is not directed to you, but to my fellow Egyptians.

Let it be clear:

• Yes, I refuse the oppression and dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.
• Yes, I refuse a renewal of his mandate as president.
• Yes, I refuse being passed as a piece of heritage to his son.
• Yes, I shall not stop criticizing the president, no matter who he is.
• Yes, I want a democratic constitution that grants all human rights, without exception to all citizens with no discrimination on any ground, which provides an effective role of the legislative and judiciary authorities, restricts the malignant infiltration and spread of the executive authorities, and grants the right to elect the president of the republic from among more than one candidate and for no loner than two terms.
• Yes, I shall continue to expose human rights violations in this country, foremost torture and arbitrary detentions, persistence of emergency state and all forms of discrimination between citizens especially those based on religion and gender.
• Yes, I shall continue to struggle with all involved to liberate civil society organizations from the many restrictions that control them and limit their freedom of organization.
• Yes, I shall continue to struggle with all those who believe that foreign occupation is itself a flagrant violation of human rights.
• I shall not be intimidated or silenced by the red lines of the tyrants, no matter who draws them..
• I shall not submit to the silence imposed on us by the power of oppression or even by the power of the law.
• Do not believe them when you read in their newspapers or watch or listen in their mass media that we are charged of criminal charges (debauchery, drugs, rigging) in an attempt to defame the reputation of the opposition. Do not believe them no matter how grave the charges.
• They say, the fish starts rotting from its head. Don_t you smell the rot of our fish?!

Lawyer Ahmed Seif El Islam Hamad

22 February 2005

الرسالة وصلت واضحة

وردى لن اصمت وليكن دمى جزءا مما يمنح زهرة الحرية حمرتها

السادة المستبدين فراعنة مصر، رسالتكم لى بانتهاك حرمة منزلى فى وضح النهار ظهر 21/2/2005 وصلتنى ودلالتها لا لبس فيها ولا إبهام مثل الرسائل السابقة التى كانت تحتمل تفسيرات مختلفة.

وردى بسيط وإنساني وليس موجها لكم وإنما للمصريين وأرجو أن يكون واضحا:

نعم ارفض استبداد وديكتاتورية حسنى مبارك

نعم ارفض التجديد له

نعم ارفض توريثنا كالضياع لابنه

نعم لن أتتراجع عن انتقاد الرئيس أيا كان شخصه

نعم أريد دستورا ديمقراطيا يكفل حقوق الإنسان بلا تجزئة ولجميع المواطنين بلا تمييز أيا كان مصدره ويكفل دورا فاعلا للسلطة التشريعية والسلطة القضائية ويحد من استفحال وتسرطن السلطة التنفيذية، ويتضمن اختيار رئيس الجمهورية من بين اكثر من مرشح، ولمدتين محددتين

نعم سأعمل على فضح انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان خاصة التعذيب والاعتقال العشوائى، واستمرار حالة الطوارئ، وكافة أشكال عدم المساواة خاصة القائمة على الدين والنوع

نعم سأظل اعمل ضمن الساعين لتحرير كافة مؤسسات المجتمع المدنى من القيود التى تكبلها

نعم سأظل اعمل ضمن أولئك الذين يعتبرون الاحتلال الأجنبي فى حد ذاته انتهاكا فاضحا لحقوق الإنسان

لن تردعنى خطوط المستبدين الحمراء أيا كان سندها

ولن التزم الصمت المفروض علينا بقوة القهر أو حتى بقوة القانون

لا تصدقوهم عندما تقرءون فى صحفهم وتسمعون أو تشاهدون فى وسائل أعلامهم تهم جنائية (آداب، مخدرات، تزوير) بهدف اغتيال السمعة للمعارضين أيا كان قبح الاتهام وفداحته

يقولون أن السمكة تفسد من رأسها إلا تشمون معى رائحة عفونة سمكتنا

أحمد سيف الإسلام حمد المحامى

interested in the details, this is the full text of the request to appoint an investigation magistrate