Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad, who requested the ban of 51 blogs and websites deemed insulting the state’s dignity and threatening Egypt’s interests, has lost his case. On December 29, 2007, the Administrative Judicial Court rejected the lawsuit and ruled in favor of freedom of speech on the Internet.

“Minor victories give us hope and the ability to continue, and this sentence restored to us confidence that our efforts in support of freedoms in Egypt are not lost in vain,” said Ahmed Seif Al-Islam Hamad, former director of Hisham Mubarak Law Center. “The right of citizens to a free Internet and a free flow of information is now guaranteed by the judiciary in Egypt,” said Gamal Eid, the Executive Director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.