CAIRO: The case against two leading human rights advocates and a well-known blogger has finally come to an end Saturday after the judge dropped all charges against the three. A judge dismissed the case against Gamal Eid, Ahmed Seif — directors of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC), respectively — and blogger Amr Gharbeia, who were accused of defamation, blackmail and misuse of communications by judge Abdel-Fatah Murad. The case started when Gharbeia learned that Murad had copied about 50 pages of an ANHRI report in his book titled “Scientific and Legal Principles of Blogs” while failing to credit the NGO. Murad filed the charges in a 26-page complaint against the three men in 2007 after ANHRI issued a statement about its discovery. Murad also claimed that Eid and Seif threatened him and tried to extort money from him. All men could have faced imprisonment and a fine if convicted, but after a lengthy process and multiple hearings, the presiding judge closed the case. “The judge suspended the case…and we are happy because we don't want to waste our time on stupid cases like this one,” commented Eid. Seif echoed similar sentiments, also glad that the case was finally closed. The case garnered attention from human rights watchdog Amnesty International, calling on Egyptian authorities to drop the case against the three men.
