Letter From An Egyptian Jail
Dean
Egyptian democracy advocate Ayman Nour is currently in a jail cell 100 centimeters tall, 70 centimetes wide, and 170 centimeters long. In other words, a box about three feet high, 2 feet wide, and about 5 and a half feet long. I have nightmares like that. I think I'd go completely mad.
But instead of going mad, he writes from his cell:
My country is going through a seriously difficult gestation period. But gestation means new birth, perhaps of a free homeland, with a legitimately elected head of state, and a proper and genuine legislative authority. I envision a nation of citizens safe in the knowledge that their land is a shelter, not a threat, where its soldiers remain in their stations, where leaders include the educated and the young, and where development is achieved that requires no outside aid, American or otherwise. Whatever obstacles we face, I will always be able to see a "tomorrow" for a modern, impressive Egypt.
His letter also describes the almost-certainly bogus charges he was jailed for, the history of his political party, and his desires for his country. Read the whole thing.
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It's still a coffin-sized box, and horrible conditions to be kept in; I don't want to contemplate how sanitary facilities are handled, for instance. But it's fractionally less bad than what your post would seem to indicate.