An Egyptian military tribunal on Wednesday postponed until 29 November the trial of an activist who allegedly used the social networking website Facebook to publish “classified defense information.”
Ahmed al-Bassiouny created a Facebook group to inform young Egyptian men required to complete military service of the mandatory documents and procedures involved in that process.
Al-Bassiouny is not the only activist to face military trial this year over internet activism.
Ahmed Mostafa, a young blogger, was brought to trial in March before his trial was called off under pressure from rights organizations.
Analysts say the crackdown on bloggers and internet activists is part of the regime's attempts to suppress opposition to Mubarak's regime after the opposition took to the internet to organize protests and other forms of political action.
Egypt’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for Sunday and the ruling National Democratic Party is seeking a majority in parliament to pave the way for the presidential election slated for 2011, in which President Hosni Mubarak is expected to vie for a sixth term.
