30 Oct 2011

Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil sent to mental hospital

The Egyptian government’s referral of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad to the Abbaseyya Mental Hospital is “a dangerous and unacceptable affair,” according to a statement from Basma Abdel Aziz, Director of Media Department of Egypt’s General Secretariat of Mental Health.

Nabil, who has been on a prison hunger strike since August 23, was referred to the Abbaseyya Mental Hospital by Egyptian authorities. Basma Abdel Aziz condemned the recent move regarding Nabil’s case, stating, “the previous regime used to accuse mentally healthy individuals of being mentally disturbed and accuse them of crimes of conscience despite professional reports stating their sanity.”

Free Maikel Nabil

“The incarceration of an individual whose charge is having a different view of the situation in the country is morally and professionally unacceptable. Sanad is kept in one ward with others accused of criminal charges, a matter that is involves terrorizing and threat,” the statement continued. It  went on to condemn the politicization of mental hospital spaces to isolate and ridicule political opponents.

Nabil was sentenced to a three-year jail term for insulting the Egyptian military on his blog “Son of Ra”, in a blog post published last March entitled, “The people and the military were never one hand.”

Bikya Masr