How You Can Help Imprisoned Egyptian Blogger

Egyptian blogger Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam has been in a prison in his home country, along with 46 others, since early May. Their crime? Demonstrating on behalf of a free and independent judiciary in his country.
Glenn Reynolds links to Alaa's latest blogging post from prison, a disturbing reflection on what might happen to him and his fellow democracy activists should Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak die. (Mubarak, you'll recall has been Egypt's president since the assassination of Anwar Sadat on October 6, 1981.) Writes Alaa:

We've been playing with this question for a while now, mostly as a joke, but sometimes an irrational fear grips me.

He is old and senile enough, and i'm sure millions are actively praying for his sudden death.

Normally I'd be happy, his death is no solution for Egypt but it's bound to shake things up and spark an interesting sequences of events.

But now that I'm in jail it's a scary thought. It would take no less than 3 months for the dust to settle and who knows what will be the result of this power struggle. Most likely no one but immediate family will remember us until it is over.

In my mind most people will continue living their lives normally. The huge bureaucracy will chug along just fine, but all security organs will be paralyzed.

In my mind no officer will wake up the next day and head for his post. Which means prison will be abandoned.

The problem is, our cells are locked from outside...

This is precisely the sort of speculation you might expect from a man who has been locked up in an oppressive regime's prison. The fear must be palpable and my heart goes out to him!

For more background on Alaa's cause and plight, go to these links, where you'll find more information: here, here, here, and here.

In one of the links, you'll find information on how to contact the Egyptian embassy in Washington, asking for the release of Alaa and all others arrested in the early-May peaceful demonstration for democracy.

In years gone by, I have been active in letter-writing and prayer campaigns on behalf of the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa as well as the freeing of Namibia by South Africa. Believe me, your emails and letters will contribute to the freeing of these prisoners and to the eventual establishment of democracy in Egypt.

But nothing you can do will contribute more to those two ends than humbly and submissively asking God to intervene in the Name of Jesus Christ. So, even before you write your emails, right now, at the keyboard, offer up a prayer. (See here and here.)

So, please:

• Write to the Egyptian embassy
• Pray for the freedom of Alaa and the peaceful demonstrators for democracy in Egypt...and for that democracy to come into being

It can happen! It will happen!