IRIN Middle East: Weekly update of human rights violations in the region:

CAIRO, (IRIN) – In Egypt, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced the sentencing on 31 October of former President Anwar al-Sadat’s nephew, Talaat al-Sadat, after being convicted by a military court of insulting the military and the Republican Guard.

HRW condemned the conviction of al-Sadat, who is a prominent parliamentarian. Al-Sadat’s prosecution and sentence [sends] a chilling message to anyone who dares to raise sensitive issues in Egypt. No one should be tried in a military court or any other court for criticising a public institution or a public official, said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director of the New York-based rights group.

Meanwhile, local NGO Human Rights Info denounced the arrest of a prominent secularist blogger for his views on Egypt’s religious establishment. Alexandrian blogger Abd el-Karim Suleiman, who was arrested on Monday, is being investigated on five charges, which include incitement to hate Islam and spreading malicious rumours that disrupt public security.

We are very concerned that he is going to be charged officially with blasphemy a charge which can carry the death penalty in Egypt, Human Rights Info spokeswoman Dalia Ziada told IRIN.