Egyptian police have released a pro-Palestinian student and blogger who had been arrested outside his home early last month, a human rights group said on Saturday. Diaeddin Gad was released Friday morning after spending almost seven weeks in jail, said Gamal Eid, executive director for the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).
Eid accused police of beating Gad in detention. "He was threatened and beaten, and asked about his blog and his support for Gaza and criticisms of (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak," he said. Gad, 22, who was arrested on February 6, ran the soutgadeb.blogspot.com blog, which criticised Egypts policies during Israels 22-day war on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and January.
Many Arabs criticised Egypt, which has the only border crossing with the Gaza Strip to bypass Israel, for not fully opening the frontier to aid and the wounded during the war in Gaza, in which around 1,300 Palestinians died. Also in February, police arrested a German-Egyptian student and blogger who took part in a peaceful march in support of Gaza. He was held for five days. Human rights groups say torture and abuse are routinely practised in Egyptian jails.