(AFP) – 3/2/10

CAIRO — A military court adjourned until the weekend the trial of an Egyptian student who wrote an Internet blog about alleged favouritism in a military academy, a lawyer said Tuesday.

The trial of 20-year-old Ahmed Mustafa, an engineering student, has attracted criticism from rights groups. The evidence against him comprises a single blog post written more than a year ago.

Tuesday's hearing took place behind closed doors at a military court in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh.
The judge agreed to adjourn the trial after defence lawyers insisted on more time to review the evidence, which includes the prosecution's investigation report, according to one of his lawyers, Rawda Ahmed.

"The trial has been adjourned to March 7," she said.

Mustafa, who has been in detention since Thursday, is charged with publishing "false news about the armed forces," she said.

Gamal Eid, director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said it was the first time a military court was convened for a blogger, although bloggers have been sentenced to prison by other courts.

"This should not have gone to a military court," he said, adding such trials are typically "unfair and speedy."
He said a law passed in 1967 requires military approval for reporting on the armed forces.

Human Rights Watch, the US-based rights group, called on the government to drop the charges.

"The government should not be prosecuting Mustafa at all, much less before a military court, with no possibility of appeal," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders said the trial was "designed to intimidate anyone who dares to criticise the army."

Egyptian emergency law allows military courts, which are presided over by an officer, to try civilians. The armed forces are extremely sensitive to any criticism and reports that concern them.