Mohsen saw 9/11 coming

"Is there any Egyptian atheist association of any shape or form?", I was asking myself. I found this page on wikipedia which had an interesting paragraph:

There are Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic, but their numbers are unknown as openly advocating such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy (this occurs only if a citizen takes the step of suing the person engaging in apostasy, not automatically by the general prosecutor). In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books.

Remember who this guy is? He is Salaheddin Mohsen, who was arrested in March 2000 after privately publishing copies of his book, Shivers of Enlightenment, in which he expounded his anti-religious views.

Anyway, he was tried and found guilty, but was only given a six-month suspended jail sentence, so he opted to keep his mouth shut, because with a suspended sentence over your head, you can be immediately imprisoned for any similar future offence.

He described the Koran as a book of ignorance and blamed Islam for underdevelopment in Muslim countries.

Okay I understand that some may find these words offensive, but just remember what 19 dickheads did in the name of Islam in September of the following year? It might have been a good idea to let the guy express himslef (instead of trying him) and listen to what he had to say. Maybe... just maybe he had a point or two to make?