LATEST UPDATE FROM THE RIZK FAMILY

Friday, Feb. 13th 10:00amWe are working on posting a statement.In the meantime you can get an update from the media. NY Times published an article yesterday. Several others should follow today. In English: View the NY Times article on the discussion board below.In German: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,607150,00.htmlThank you----------------Wednesday, Feb. 11th 2:00pmPlease be aware that all email addresses previously owned by Philip have been compromised.For the time being, Philip requests that all personal messages be sent to his facebook mailbox.

Philip is free

Wednesday February 11th, 4:00amPhilip is out, he is safe and home with his family.He requests that all upcoming planned protests and marches still take place to end siege on Gaza.More details to come soon.Please do not call the family members at this time.Monday Feb. 9th 7:15 pmThis afternoon it was discovered that the secret police were at Philip and Jeannette Rizk’s residence, most likely while the family home was being searched in the early morning hours. Philip's hard drives, cameras, iPod, as well as several boxes of books, including both intellectual and material property are missing from the apartment. No money was taken.The intruders used Philip’s key to get into the apartment, and left it behind on a desk. At this point it is unclear what they were looking for. Although no “incriminating” evidence of any sort could possibly be found –as none exists– the impunity with which personal property was taken is deeply disturbing.

LATEST UPDATE FROM JEANNETTE and CHRISTINA RIZK

Monday Feb. 9th 7:15 pmThis afternoon it was discovered that the secret police were at Jeannette Rizk’s residence in the past 24 hours. By process of elimination, we have deduced it was most likely while the family home was being searched in the early morning hours. Hard drives, cameras, iPod, as well as several boxes of paper, including both intellectual and material property are missing from the apartment. No money was taken.The intruders used Philip’s key to get into the apartment, and left it behind on a desk. At this point it is unclear what they were looking for. Although no “incriminating” evidence of any sort could possibly be found –as none exists– the impunity with which personal property was taken is deeply disturbing.

update 2

LATEST UPDATE FROM JEANNETTE and CHRISTINA RIZK
Monday Feb. 9th 5:40 amAt 1:30am when we had just gone to bed the doorbell rang. 5 plain clothed men and two in full riot gear and machine guns stood outside our door. They wanted to enter to search the house. We found out that they were looking for evidence against Philip. Two men entered and began searching through the papers of our home office. In the meantime we contacted a German Embassy official and a professor from AUC as well as some friends. They all came immediately many others were awake and praying.The police left but returned soon after to ask my father to go with them and write up a report about the fact that they had searched our home. Of course, we did not trust them. Then they insisted to pass by his office where they would continue the search. In the meantime Amnesty International had contacted us and an wonderful lawyer arrived just in time to firmly tell the secret police that they could not take any further actions without a police warrant. We closed and locked the front door and settled in to see what would happen next. The secret police was waiting downstairs for orders that never came. At 5a.m. they finally left.

from Reuters

Other Background from Reuters:CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police have detained an Egyptian-German political activist and blogger on Gaza Strip issues, his sister and an eyewitness said Saturday.Philip Rizk, 26, a graduate student at the American University in Cairo, was detained by police Friday night while returning to Cairo from Qalyoubia, north of Cairo, his sister Jeanette told Reuters.Rizk and a group of activists had been holding a march in the rural areas north of Cairo in solidarity with Palestinians and to raise awareness about the effects of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, according to Salma Said, an activist who was with Rizk when he was detained.A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said he had received no word of the detention.Said said police had detained their vehicle for several hours and then said they wanted to talk with Rizk. They put him in a vehicle with no licence plates and sped off. Other policemen then blocked the activists' vehicle to prevent them from following."We don't know where he is, and there is no formal charge," Rizk's sister said. She added that the German embassy had been notified and were attempting to locate him.Rizk, who blogs at Tabula Gaza (http://tabulagaza.blogspot.com) is "passionate" about Gaza and had recently completed most of the work on a short documentary about non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation, according to his sister.She said that Rizk, who lived in Gaza for two years, had been helping get medicine into the coastal enclave that was recently the target of a 22-day Israeli offensive that left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead.The Egyptian government contributes to the blockade of Gaza by refusing to open the Rafah crossing point without Israeli approval.(Writing by Aziz El-Kaissouni; Editing by Matthew Jones)

The latest update:

Phil's parents went to the High Court downtaown Cairo to file a complaint with the General Prosecutor against State Security for abducting Philip. A lot of friends have gathered outside the Court house to show support and solidarity.The American University is involved as well as the German Embassy (who was told at first by the Sate Security that nobody called Philip had been arrested, later they did acknowledge he was there).Meanwhile through other contacts we were able to locate Philip, he is being held by State Security at their headquarters in downtown Cairo.Should you be contacted by the media about Philip's situation we ask that you refer the request to one of the immediate family members. Phil's safety and release is our first concern.Contact info for Jeannette Rizk, Phil's sisterjfrizk@gmail.comFor more background read:http://tabulagaza.blogspot.com/http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18931http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=19600

Support and Prayer for the Safe Release of Philip Rizk

At 11pm on 7 February, journalist and activist Philip Rizk was kidnapped by Egyptian police during a solidarity March to Gaza. 15 other people were also detained, but everyone except for Philip was released. This space is dedicated to spreading the news and updates about Philip as raising awareness about the situation in Palestine.