On 30 October , Alaa was arrested on charges of inciting violence against the military during the 9 October Maspero demonstrations , during which hundreds of people were injured and 27 died in the worst violence since Mubarak left office . Alaa refused to recognise the legitimacy of his interrogators or answer their questions and was then to be held for 15 days , a period that indefinitely renewable . He was accused of having incited fighting in Maspero , of assaulting soldiers and damaging military property . As in his 2006 imprisonment , his mother spoke out in his support , and initiated a hunger strike in opposition to the court-martialling of civilians on 6 November . His father and sisters also participated in the 2011 protests . At his first hearing , Alaa 's father , the human rights attorney Ahmed Seif El-Islam presented the military court with video tapes , one of which contained footage of Armored Personnel Carriers running over protesters and another of state television anchors " inciting violence . " He also accused the head of military police of being directly responsible for the violence and accused the Supreme Council of Armed Forces of obstruction of justice for instituting a curfew the night of the attack in order to " hide all the evidence of the army 's crimes . " The spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for the release of Alaa and all others imprisoned for exercising free speech , while Amnesty International issued a condemnation of his imprisonment and accusing SCAF of involvement in the Maspero clashes . In reaction to his imprisonment , thousands of protesters took part in demonstrations in Cairo and Alexandria demanding Alaa 's release . Human rights activists and bloggers outside of Egypt have also called for his release . While incarcerated in the Bab al-Khalq Prison , he wrote a letter to fellow Egyptian activists , claiming that SCAF had " hijacked " the revolution . He also compared his current imprisonment with the jail time he served in 2006 , saying " I never expected to repeat the experience of five years ago . After a revolution that deposed the tyrant , I go back to his jails ? " Following protests against Alaa 's incarceration , military authorities allowed his case to be handled by a civilian court instead of military tribunal . On 13 December , the court dropped two charges against him , including incitement and illegal assembly . The court extended his detention for another 15 days and maintained the charges of stealing weapons and shooting at soldiers . While Alaa remained in custody , his son Khaled was born , named after Khaled Said , the slain blogger who had become a symbol of the Egyptian revolution
9 October Maspero demonstrations
Maspero demonstrations
Alaa Abd El-Fattah