Does anyone care about Austin Mackell? - The Media Machine Blog. Arrested: inside my Egyptian nightmare - The Drum Opinion - When the secret police are hiding from the political activists, rather than the other way round, it is hard to miss the long-term trend. Find More Stories Arrested: inside my Egyptian nightmare Austin G Mackell Traffic was light on the road out of Cairo. The oppressive density of the metropolis gave way to an uneven patchwork of small green fields and shoddily constructed red brick apartment blocks.
A peasant in traditional garb hand fed a donkey with one hand while he stroked its neck with the other. We - an American masters student called Derek Ludovici, my regular translator and close personal friend Aliya Alwi , our taxi driver Zakaria Ahmad, and myself - were on our way to Mahalla El Kubra. The day was originally planned as another in a long run of strikes by workers in the city's massive Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, with more than 20,000 employees. This is why we had decided to spend February 11 – the first anniversary of Mubarak's fall - there, with one of town's better known union organiser and political activists, Mr Kamal Elfayoumi .
We were treated politely at this stage, and offered tea. Email Share x Digg. Human Rights Petition: Australian Prime Minister: Act on Austin Mackell's matter now. Update: On 28 August we recieved VERY good news, that the new Egyptian Justice Minister has advised the Australian Ambassador that the case against Austin has been dropped and the travel ban lifted.
A short time later Austin was able to confirm through his lawyer that the charges against his translator and Egyptian national Aliya Alwi, as well as US student Derek Ludovici, were also dropped. Thank you to everyone for your support! A young Australian desperately needs your help. Austin Mackell is a 28 year old freelance journalist. Since February last year, he has been braving difficult and dangerous conditions in Egypt to report on the Arab Spring. Academics protest journalist's charges. From left: student Derek Ludovici, translator Aliya Alwi and reporter Austin Mackell after being detained in the Nile Delta city of Mahalla on February 11.
Source: AFP ACTIVIST journal Interface and the Media Alliance have called on the federal government to intervene in the case of Austin Mackell, an Australian freelance journalist arrested in northern Egypt almost a month ago. Interface said Mr Mackell had been researching for its upcoming issue about the Arab Spring when he and three colleagues, including an American postgraduate student, were arrested and charged with bribing children to throw rocks at a police station. It said the four had been directed to the police station for their own protection after being attacked by a small mob. All four were eventually released but three of them, including Mr Mackell, face up to seven years’ imprisonment if they’re convicted of causing unrest and funding demonstrators. Last month Mr Mackell’s father praised DFAT for its assistance.