The Skeptic الشكاك

639 Mahalla Blogger Alleges Torture in Custody

Karim al-Bahairy in Cafe Horreya, Cairo, Jan. 6, 2008. Photo: Hossam al-Hamalawy

Karim al-Bahairy, a blogger, factory worker, and labor-rights activist from Mahalla, is alleging that he was tortured with electric shocks during his 73-day detention. The Interior Ministry, which normally doesn’t bother rebutting specific allegations of torture, has denied the claim. A judge ordered Al-Bahairy released on April 16, but it took the Interior Ministry until June 1 to release him.

637 Brigitte Bardot Fined for Anti-Muslim Remarks

Infidel trollop Brigitte Bardot in her prime

AFP:

PARIS – FRANCE’S 1960s screen icon Brigitte Bardot received a 15,000-euro fine on Tuesday for inciting hatred against Muslims.

In Dec 2006, the film star-turned-animal rights activist wrote a letter to France’s then interior minister, current President Nicolas Sarkozy, arguing that Muslims should stun animals before slaughtering them during the Aid al-Kabir holiday.

She outraged anti-racist groups by saying: ‘I’ve had enough of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, (and) destroying our country by imposing their ways.’

Bardot, now 73 and suffering from arthritis, was absent from Tuesday’s court hearing in Paris. She wrote to the court saying: ‘I’m sickened by how (these organisations) are harassing me.’

She added: ‘I will not shut up until stunning is carried out’ on animals before their ritual slaughter.’

Bardot already has four convictions on similar charges. In 2004 she was fined 5,000 euros for inciting racial hatred in her book Un Cri Dans le Silence (A Cry in the Silence).

France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community, estimated at five million people.

636 Quick Reads

A few quick items while I catch up on work missed while on the road:

• Disappeared Libyan political prisoner released: Jumaa Boufayed, disappeared for 15 months, is free.
• Muslim Brotherhood MP backs FGM, Again: Mohammed Al-Omda trots out his wife and his daughters to oppose provisions of Egypt’s proposed Law on the Child that would ban female genital cutting.
• Copts Protest Kidnapping, ‘Torture’ of Monks: Firefight over expansion of monastery leaves at least two monks injured, one Muslim dead.
• Israel Plans More Settler Homes: Israel announces plans for 900 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
• The Livni File: London’s Sunday Times says Israeli Foreign Minister (and possible prime minister) Tzipi Livni was a Mossad agent in Paris, and insinuates that she shared responsibility for assassinating Palestinians in Europe.
• How to Get Rich—And Notorious: Business Week profiles Felix Dennis, publisher of Maxim, The Week, and a bunch of computer advertising rags. If this sounds boring, consider that Dennis boasts of crack addiction and murder.
• Horny Qutb: ‘Aqoul highlights Sayyid Qutb’s rhapsody on the seductive charms of American women.
• Abu Muqawama is dead. Long live Abu Muqawama: Friend Andrew Exum outs himself and bows out of the blog on counterinsurgency he started. The blog continues, maintained by three/four contributors.

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