Police arrested Sanad, a political blogger and activist, after he wrote an article criticizing the military’s performance and lack of transparency before and after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, according to news accounts. Sanad, who maintained his own blog, Ibn Ra, also described being tortured by the military during a previous detention.
On April 10, a military court in Cairo sentenced Sanad to three years in prison for “insulting the military,” defense lawyer Ali Atef told CPJ. After Sanad appealed and was granted a retrial, a court sentenced him in December to two years on the same charge.
Sanad waged a hunger strike in August to protest his continued imprisonment and mistreatment by military prison guards, his brother, Marc, told CPJ.