Alaa is free. (Dial up warning)

[EFerrari]

1. Freed @Alaa talks prison, parliament & Egypt's future

At his parents' house amid an exceptionally emotionally cheerful atmosphere prominent blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah on Monday received a multitude of press and television reporters, as well as supporters and friends, only one day after his release from military detention. As people congratulated him, the activist spoke of his experience and views about Egypt’s current political situation.

Abdel-Fattah, son of revolutionary Cairo University professor Laila Sweif and lawyer Ahmed Seif, and brother of renowned activist Mona Seif, had a very busy day, along with his family, with the four of them running all over the medium-sized apartment giving interviews to reporters. In between, they welcomed friends and relatives.

Now more famous than his family members, Abdel-Fattah looks healthy and in good spirits after spending nearly two months in Tora Prison on a temporary basis pending investigation into the charges against him. He stands accused of stealing firearms and assaulting soldiers during the October clashes between military personnel and Coptic-Christian protesters in Cairo’s Maspero district.

Although he has yet to be acquitted, Abdel-Fattah is sure he will be found not guilty. “My innocence will be pronounced sooner or later, that’s for sure,” he said. “Those detained with me on the same charges will be exonerated too, because there is simply nothing to convict us with. We did nothing, and everybody knows that.



http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/30272.aspx