Call for an International Day of Action for Egyptian Pacifist Maikel Nabil Sanad - 2 September 2011

War Resisters’ International, Connection e.V. and DFG-VK Hesse call for an International Day of Action for imprisoned Egyptian conscientious objector, critic of the military and blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad. We ask groups and organisations to join the actions on 2 September 2011: Free Maikel Nabil Sanad.

On 10 April 2011 Maikel Nabil Sanad was sentenced by an Egyptian military court to three years imprisonment, because he was one of the first to criticise the role of the military. In his blog he reported on ongoing human rights violations and the political influence of the Egyptian military during and after the revolution. The prison sentence was pronounced in absence of his lawyers, friends and family.

The case of Maikel Nabil Sanad is only the tip of the iceberg. Besides Maikel Nabil Sanad, thousands of other activists have been arrested, tortured, and sentenced by the military since the revolution. In doing so, the military is attempting to crash the revolutionary movement, which is now turning against the role of the military in Egypt. Especially the sentencing of civilians by military courts in fast-track trials, often lasting less than five minutes, is a clear sign of a completely absence of a state of law, and a disregard of the Supreme Council's public statements to uphold human rights.

War Resisters' International, Connection e.V., and DFG-VK Hesse call for an international day of action to show the international public support for Maikel Nabil Sanad, whose imprisonment is a symbol for the lack of freedom of speech, and the military crackdown on the opposition in Egypt. With the day of action, we call for the immediate release of Maikel Nabil Sanad and all other imprisoned nonviolent revolutionaries and critics of the military.

War Resisters' International, Connection e.V., DFG-VK Hesse, August 2011

For the international day of action, War Resisters' International, Connection e.V., and DFG-VK Hesse have put together background information and materials for action. Besides already available Maikel Nabil Sanad's declaration of conscientious objection and his report "The army and the people never were as one", materials for actions can soon be found at:

http://wri-irg.org/campagins/supportmaikelnabil
http://www.connection-ev.de/z.php?ID=1416