In Egypt, high-risk blogging

Cyberspace can be a messy, dangerous place, especially if you're Abbas, who with keyboard, digital camera and a bit of cunning has become one of Egypt's most popular bloggers. His posts, often with scratchy video, catalog police torture, political oppression, labor strikes, sexual harassment and radical Islam. He's been vilified and threatened, but has managed to stay out of jail, operating in an uncensored realm beyond the independent and state-controlled media.

"What matters to me is publicizing violations against human rights. I don't care about scandals or private lives. I care about abuses," said Abbas, 33, who outlined his mission while repeatedly checking his cellphone, which had a soft, if disconcerting, Bee Gees song as ring-tone.

"I try to avoid being arrested. There are activists who want to get arrested to add to their resume. I don't need to get arrested to prove that I'm authentic or a patriot."

His target is what he says has gone wrong with Egypt during the 26-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak. The country, a strong U.S. ally, is plagued by a high unemployment rate, soaring inflation and disparate opposition groups that have been largely muted by security forces and Mubarak's National Democratic Party. Egypt's stature as the Arab world's leading voice has slipped, and Abbas has become a ubiquitous chronicler of national anxiety.

"I'm trying to enlighten people to what's going on," he said. "The most disturbing thing is that people won't revolt. They are worried about their jobs and their kids. They work as donkeys and don't demand a better life."

Abbas' most dramatic blog posts are videos, some shot with cellphone cameras, depicting police brutality, which has long been a concern in this country of 80 million people. In 2007, Abbas gained international attention when he posted images of police officers sodomizing a bus driver with a stick. The driver had committed no crime, and the courts, forced to react to irrefutable evidence and public anger, sentenced two police officers each to three years in prison.

Recent videos posted by Abbas and other bloggers have found their way into the mainstream media and forced the Interior Ministry and the courts to more swiftly investigate officers accused of torture and abuse.