Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

According to sources An Egyptian blogger on trial before a military tribunal for slandering the nation's premier army academy will be released and proceedings suspended after he agreed to apologize.

Mohammed Mahmoud, lawyer of 20-year old Ahmed Mustafa, said his client has a week to issue an official apology on his blog for falsely claiming there was corruption in the army's military academy in a post titled "The Military Academy's Scandal."

The tribunal agreed to suspend proceedings in return for the apology.

International human rights groups criticized the trial saying the government is trying to silence a civilian for daring to criticize the army.

However, military tribunals are normally reserved for those the government perceives as a threat to its existence, such as terror suspects or members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The engineering student was detained on February 25, and charged with publishing false news and "tarnishing the military's image" after blogging about a student forced to leave the academy to make room for a candidate from a wealthier family.

Criticizing the armed forces is illegal in Egypt and considered a threat to state security.