Muslim Brotherhood Blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud Banned from Traveling to Morocco

Muslim Brotherhood Blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud Banned from Traveling to Morocco


Muslim Brotherhood journalist and blogger Abdelmoneim Mahmoud (Monem) was banned from traveling to Morocco on Thursday. He was invited to a conference on freedom of the press in Africa organized by the International Journalists Union.



Monem heard his name called while he was about to board, and when he went to the information office he found a police officer waiting for him.



“I was accompanied by a police officer to the state security office at Cairo International Airport. I was robbed of my passport, and was asked too many questions about the reason for my flight. They inquired about the organizing body of the conference and how many times I was arrested before. After an hour in custody, I was advised by an officer to give the state security notice before any future travel so as to avoid such harassment!!” he narrated in his blog.



Monem asked the security officer who was interrogating him to send a message across to his seniors, “Do not undermine Egypt’s reputation by banning a young journalist from attending a conference about freedom of the press. You will make a hero of me, and this incident will stand as an evidence of Mubarak government’s policy of exclusion and banning towards opposition.”



Monem is now serving as reporter and Cairo office director of Al-Hiwar Satellite Channel, and he used to work as a reporter for Ikhwanweb.