I've been meaning to post about this since here in Egypt we've been hearing more and more news over the past week about these arbitrary arrests. It's especially interesting to hear about this in Cairo where I hear the gamut of opinions from Egyptians about these arrests, ranging from "I think this is being overly dramatized and this hasn't actually happened" to "Damn Mubarak, when will this government cease in it's ridiculous procedures?"
Snippets from the LA Times article: "Egyptian newspapers and human rights activists announced that 155 people were detained by police forces in Aswan, southern Egypt, for publicly eating, drinking or smoking during daylight hours in the holy month of Ramadan. However, many of those arrested said that the arrests were random. Some claimed they were actually fasting when they were rounded up by police. The Ministry of Interior declined to confirm or deny the reports. But earlier, a high-ranked security source told journalists that a campaign against those who refused to fast would be launched to maintain general order and decrease crime during the Muslim holy month."
Sounds pretty ridiculous, no? Makes one wonder what Mubarak and his government hope to achieve by imposing such religiously-motivated policies...
Snippets from the LA Times article: "Egyptian newspapers and human rights activists announced that 155 people were detained by police forces in Aswan, southern Egypt, for publicly eating, drinking or smoking during daylight hours in the holy month of Ramadan. However, many of those arrested said that the arrests were random. Some claimed they were actually fasting when they were rounded up by police. The Ministry of Interior declined to confirm or deny the reports. But earlier, a high-ranked security source told journalists that a campaign against those who refused to fast would be launched to maintain general order and decrease crime during the Muslim holy month."
Sounds pretty ridiculous, no? Makes one wonder what Mubarak and his government hope to achieve by imposing such religiously-motivated policies...
No comments:
Post a Comment