In Egypt, a leading blogger and activist has been released after turning himself in for questioning amid a feared crackdown on opposition protesters. Alaa Abd El Fattah was one of five activists whose arrests were ordered after violent clashes last week between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi. He was accused of inciting violence on social media. He wore a prison jumpsuit as he turned himself in to the prosecutor general’s office in order to show his willingness to go to jail, but he was released following hours of questioning. He was a leading voice in the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and was imprisoned for two months in a high-profile case while Egypt was under military control. After his release without charge in December 2011, he appeared on Democracy Now! and described the conditions in prison.

Alaa Abd El Fattah: “I was in a complete darkness for five days. It was very filthy and very crowded. It was nine of us in a two-by-three-meter cell, having no access to water or toilet except 10 minutes per day. You know, so, basically, they knew they couldn’t torture me, because of the solidarity and the media attention, so they just made sure to try and use every other measure to, you know, put me at discomfort or at a psychological pressure.”