Egyptian Publisher Detained for Oppositional Book

By David 

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Over the weekend, a publisher in Egypt was arrested (and eventually released) by Egyptian police for publishing a book in support of a high-profile dissident, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei.

Ahmed Mahanna runs the Dawan publishing house, which released a book last month by Egyptian journalist Kamal Gebrayal entitled ElBaradei and the Dream of the Green Revolution. We hear about kidnapped journalists all the time (unfortunately), but it’s somewhat rare that a publisher is arrested for one of the books in his catalogue. ElBaradei may run against 81-year-old President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled since 1981, in a 2011 election.

Mahanna was arrested on Saturday in a raid on his house, and released the next day without explanation. His computer and copies of the book were confiscated.