Egyptian Activist Censored by YouTube

An anti-torture activist in Egypt posted videos on YouTube about the country's brutal treatment of its citizens through the police.   His videos were taken down by YouTube due to complaints.    Real complaints?  Political censorship?

YouTube stops account of Egypt anti-torture activist

Tue 27 Nov 2007, 15:37 GMT  By Cynthia Johnston

CAIRO, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The video-sharing Web site YouTube has suspended the account of a prominent Egyptian anti-torture activist who posted videos of what he said was brutal behaviour by some Egyptian policemen, the activist said.

Wael Abbas said close to 100 images he had sent to YouTube were no longer accessible, including clips depicting purported police brutality, voting irregularities and anti-government demonstrations. YouTube, owned by search engine giant Google Inc , did not respond to a written request for comment. A message on Abbas's YouTube user page, http://youtube.com/user/waelabbas, read: "This account is suspended."

YouTube stops account of Egypt anti-torture activist

"They closed it (the account) and they sent me an e-mail saying that it will be suspended because there were lots of complaints about the content, especially the content of torture," Abbas told Reuters in a telephone interview. Abbas, who won an international journalism award for his work this year, said that of the images he had posted to YouTube, 12 or 13 depicted violence in Egyptian police stations.

Abbas was a key player last year in distributing a clip of an Egyptian bus driver, his hands bound, being sodomised with a stick by a police officer -- imagery that sparked an uproar in a country where rights groups say torture is commonplace.