You probably know Asmaa Mahfouz , famous activist and former was summoned to the military prosecution today to find herself facing charges , dangerous charges for real : Inciting violence against the military and insulting the members of SCAF. These dangerous accusations was based on status on Facebook and twitter and a phone call in TV show.After interrogation Asmaa was bailed out for LE 20,000 “which is big sum without doubt” to be referred to court in the next 15 days.
Asmaa went along with a group of lawyers today including Dr.Hossam Eissa , Ragia Omran and Ahmed Rageb. A group of activists stood out the military prosecution “C28” in New Cairo in solidarity with her till she was out. There was a short clash between a group of protesters and members of military police.
According to Dr. Eissa Asmaa made it clear to the investigators that Mahfouz did not mean any insult to the Egyptian armed forces and that her accounts have been hacked. In exclusive statements to Al Masry Al Youm Asmaa Mahfouz said that she asked the military prosecution to investigate with Major General El Rowainy for inciting hate and that he admitted that he used to false news at Tahrir square.
The head of military prosecution issued a statement urging the media to check her Facebook account “Asmaa Mahfouz” claiming that she was calling for military operations. Lawyer and activist Gamal Eid says that one of his colleagues who attended with Mahfouz “Ali Atef” knew that more activists will be summoned to the military prosecution.
Now Asmaa Mahfouz posted on August 10th the following status on Facebook and Twitter :
If the Judiciary does not bring back our rights , no one should be sad if militant groups appear to launch series of assassinations as long as there is no law as long as there is judiciary , no one should be sad !!
This tweet was considered by the military prosecution as a call for violence. Of course when you read you can find it more than warning , that was phrased badly. Let’s agree on something that Asmaa was not the only one who spoke about the possibility that the families of martyrs would turn vigilant and seek justice by their own hand, I have heard it from the families of martyrs themselves and many people spoke about that before. Again may be her phrasing was wrong so people may think it is actually intimidation. Asmaa Mahfouz is not a professional political writer by the end of the day.
The problem is not in the tweet but rather with the phone call of Asama Mahfouz to El Nas TV channel “Religious Salafi channel” on July 23th ,2011 at Abassaya battle where she attacked and insulted Tantawy and SCAF.
There is a huge problem you can not deny if you live in Egypt that unfortunately Asmaa Mahfouz is not that popular in the street among the people and her phone call to El Nas channel and how she spoke about Tantawy and the council is very harmful knowing how our society and our people think about the army and the respect to the elder. You only have to read the comments online in news portals and websites to see what this young lady is currently facing. I do not know if Wael Ghonim should have published his 101 media advices earlier or what but it points directly to part of our problem here.
The whole issue is completely dangerous by all means and it is not because this is Asmaa Mahfouz of the Egyptian revolution but because we are speaking about the social media , anyone can be in her shoes because of misinterpreted “intentionally or unintentionally” tweet made of 140 words to pay LE 20,000 and face military trial now. It is not a surprise that our twitter and Facebook accounts are being monitored especially the famous activists but the shock is now what we say online , on social media can lead us not only to civilian courts only military courts.
Asmaa Mahfouz paid the second expensive price for a tweet , the first and most expensive price was paid by Naguib Sawiris and Mobinil when he posted that infamous Mini and Mickey’s tweet as one million subscriber in Mobinil left the network and moved to Vodafone and Etisalat.
I have seen this coming and I do not know if I should have warned the people or not in advance , I have seen this coming with the amount of insults and attack against the army and SCAF in twitter and Facebook by some group of activists. I know that if anyone wants to harm the revolution , he or she will show what some protesters say on twitter about the army from insults starting with the “F” bomb army hashtags “Just like what Zpider does” to the public to prove that revolutionaries are not loyal to the country and working against national security. The Egyptian society , the majority of Egyptian society respects the elderly and loves the army ; call them silent or what ever but they are Egyptians like you and me and if this majority see this , it will not be in our side. I am sorry if I am thinking like that but my major was Business administration and my specialization is Marketing and PR , I study my market segment and try to have the best strategy in order to make this segment buy my product and believe that they can’t live without it.
SCAF is not made of a group of inexperienced protesters and activists , it is made in the end of experienced men who know the true meaning of strategic thinking and tactics despite not all of their decisions are correct as proven.
Still compared to 1952 we are in a better situation thanks to awareness , thanks to the experience and thanks to the determination of having a real civilian state , thanks to the fact that we , the Egyptian people from North to South made this revolution. You must know that the army or SCAF has been untouchable even before the coup of 1952 , to be criticized offline and insulted online is something the military mindset is not used to or accepted easily especially a military mindset currently does not know what is going to face and trying to protect itself against radical changes.
I will not go not to the conspiracies and the council is with or against the revolution because I care mostly for the people that stood with us before and during the revolution including the army itself. “I am Speaking about officers and soldiers that are not that naïve to be brainwashed, our activists now think that everybody not in their side is brainwashed !!”
We are weak as long as the people are not with us, SCAF learned the lesson from Mubarak : Do not underestimate the power of the people.
It is not about freedom of expression or about the revolutionary spirit or symbol..etc. It is about side battle we enter each day by our own well without releasing the cost we pay from our time and effort.
The revolution is not Asmaa Mahfouz with my all respect to her and also those who think that the revolution is Asmaa or Shady should rethink again over and over. The revolution is bigger than bunch of online activists , protesters , parties, councils whether military or civilian. The revolution insh Allah will continue in its correct peaceful route millions of Egyptians chose on January 28th for 18 days. The revolution insh Allah will continue because it is a just revolution. Just have faith in God and be sure the 1954 will not happen again because we are not stupid or naive .
You want to end the SCAF’s rule , then play politics and stop fooling around as we have got elections in probably in 3 months. Either you act now or do not blame anyone except yourself from another 1954. “Make Straight to puzzle your opponent”an old Egyptian proverb , we should not give anyone the chance , we should be united and have clear peaceful strategy.The big slogans and twitter political activism are not required anymore. Hopefully after this not only activists but political powers will start to unite.
And stop whining like the Hussein followers after the Karbala battle in twitter!!
blogger is Egyptian activist and commentator on political and current affairs
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