Mubarak is free again; What does this say about Egypt?

Washington Post
Hosni Mubarak is free again. What does this say about Egypt?

Tuesday March 28, 2017

Mieczyslaw Boduszynski 

After six years of procedural and legal maneuvers, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is free. The top Egyptian appeals court acquitted him of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 popular revolt. Mubarak’s expected freedom comes as many leaders of that revolt languish in Egyptian prisons. The other members of Mubarak’s regime put on trial in 2011 have also been set free. How did we get to this place?

In the weeks and months following the toppling of the former Egyptian strongman in 2011, calls for justice on Cairo’s Tahrir Square turned into unified demands for prosecutions of Mubarak and other officials responsible for human rights abuses and economic crimes.

By August 2011, Mubarak, his sons and a number of his top officials were on trial, accused of corruption and ordering security forces to use lethal force against protesters during the revolution.

The sight of Mubarak in the defendant’s cage became a defining image of the Arab Spring. The trial stunned Egyptians, many of whom doubted until the last minute that their autocratic leader would be brought to justice.

Egypt is not unique. Oppositions throughout the world have to balance the desire for justice with the political constraints inherent in the absence of an all-out revolution, coup or military victory.

Retributive measures are frequently replaced with more lenient policies. The possibilities for accountability are determined by the distribution of power among key actors prevailing at the moment of transition. The greater the strength of old elites vis-à-vis the new ones, the less likely are criminal trials and other forms of retributive justice.

The Mubarak trial began primarily in the context of a revolutionary moment in which the power of the “street” was at its peak and the then-ruling military council faced intense popular pressure to prosecute Mubarak and his top officials. Yet, even when the revolutionary logic was at its height, protesters had to contend with the Supreme Council of Armed Forces’s (SCAF) determination to use its powers to protect its privileges and to move the country toward elections on its own terms.

The Mubarak trial was one of concessions made by the SCAF in a bid for legitimacy. After the parliamentary elections of December-January 2011-2012 conferred electoral legitimacy upon the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the party sought to negotiate the terms of the forthcoming handover of power with the SCAF in anticipation of the central role it hoped to play in governing the country.

Yet, the military allowed the trial to go forward, and even after 2013, President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi appeared in no hurry to free Mubarak. Why?

Interest in ensuring stability, building its legitimacy and protecting its extensive economic and political privileges drove the military’s approach. Key military figures, al-Sissi included, have also attempted to co-opt the “spirit” of the revolution, which was broadly popular, for their own purposes.

For example, the military has simultaneously detained and repressed young revolutionary protesters while at the same time going to great lengths to attempt to co-opt the revolutionaries and the revolution, even giving special medals to the martyrs who died during the uprising. The military’s decision to allow the trial to move forward was part of broader goals than just stability and momentarily pacifying protesters.

Indeed, the military sought longer-term legitimacy from the “street” by co-opting the revolution and buying support for an early transition plan. As such, the military largely conceded to demands for justice in an ad hoc, reactive way, such as allowing for Mubarak’s prosecution after days of large demonstrations.

The decision to place Mubarak and his associates on trial was a clear response to rising public pressure — and it also created a lasting perception of the trial as political spectacle. That political perception underscored how hastily prepared the trial was.

It was not clear until the last moment that the trial would actually go forward. Public pressure was central to Mubarak’s trial in the first place — and it raised questions as to whether any judge would be able to render a verdict without regard to public opinion.

Judges were fully aware that anything less than a guilty verdict would lead to massive street demonstrations. Despite this public pressure for a conviction, state officials effectively blocked the prosecutor from gathering sufficient evidence to establish Mubarak’s alleged role in ordering the killings.

As the initial symbolic force of the trial started to wane, its shallow nature did not escape the notice of those who paid the highest price for it. As a mother of one of the victims said, “We didn’t ask them for financial compensation or pensions. They are doing that only to pacify people’s anger. All we want is fair trials.” Beyond popular anger at the shortcomings of the Mubarak trial remained broader concerns about more far-reaching reforms.

The shortcomings of the Mubarak trial, and his ultimate acquittal, may lead one to argue that the prospects for transitional justice were inherently limited in the aftermath of a popular, but still incomplete, political revolution. The truth is that the Mubarak trial was possible precisely because its genesis was associated with a time when the revolutionary logic of the Egyptian transition ruled.

Under its subsequent, negotiated, logic (and then its rollback after 2013), the possibilities for transitional justice greatly diminished. The sight of Mubarak being rolled into the defendant’s cage to be tried for his crimes was a powerful symbol of what 2011 represented for Egyptians and other Arabs.

Never before had an Arab leader been held accountable in such a visible way. Yet, the fact that the trial was ultimately shallow, and that the conviction was ultimately overturned, is an equally potent indicator of just how short the revolution fell of accomplishing its goals of justice.



*Artwork by Carlos Latuff, courtesy of Latuff Cartoons

Toppled dictator Mubarak freed after 6 yrs in luxury hospital ward

The Guardian
Hosni Mubarak: Egypt's toppled dictator freed after six years in custody 

Ex-president acquitted this month on all charges of murdering protesters before he was ousted in Arab spring uprising in 2011

Ruth Michaelson

Friday 24 March 2017

Egypt’s former dictator Hosni Mubarak has left the Cairo military hospital where he had been held in custody for much of the past six years, and returned to his home in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, his lawyer said.

Mubarak, 88, was acquitted by Egypt’s highest appeals court on 2 March of conspiring to kill protesters in the final verdict in a long-running case that originally resulted in him being sentenced to life in prison in 2012 over the deaths of 239 people in Arab spring protests against his rule. A separate corruption charge was overturned in January 2015.

He left the Maadi military hospital on Friday morning and returned to his home, where he had breakfast with his family and a number of friends, according to a report in the privately owned newspaper al-Masy al-Youm. His lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, told the paper that Mubarak thanked those who had supported him throughout his trial.

The strongman, who ruled Egypt for nearly three decades, often appeared in a frail state during his court appearances, attending on a stretcher and wearing dark sunglasses, but the appearances put paid to repeated rumors of his death.

  

Mubarak was also healthy enough to appear at the window of his hospital room to wave to supporters gathered outside on occasions including his birthday and the anniversary of Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel.

For those who worked to topple the former dictator, Mubarak’s freedom marks a grim moment in Egypt’s modern history. Yet some reacted with little more than resignation as his release became imminent, numbed by the years of political turmoil since his fall.

Mubarak’s democratically elected successor, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown in a popularly backed military coup in 2013. Many see echoes of Mubarak’s style of leadership in Egypt’s current leader, the former general Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

“I’m neither sad nor disappointed,” said Tarek el-Khatib, whose brother, Mustafa, was killed in the struggle to topple Mubarak. “I’d have been surprised had things happened otherwise. Politically, everything flew in this direction and paved the way for the normality of this moment.”

Over the past six years there have been repeated efforts to punish family members and business associates who profited from Mubarak’s regime, largely without lasting consequence. Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, were freed in October 2015, with a judge stating that they had served adequate jail time on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.

The notorious steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz, formerly the secretary general of Mubarak’s now defunct National Democratic party, was named as an honorary leader of a political party in 2016, although he had previously served three years on corruption charges.

Despite describing the revolution that ended Mubarak’s rule as “a turning point in Egypt’s history,” Sisi and his military-backed government are regarded as the autocrat’s political heirs.

“I think that Mubarak’s release was something expected as his students are ruling the country,” said Mahienour el Massry, an activist and lawyer who served 15 months in prison under Sisi’s rule. “The same regime, the same corruption, the same brutality.

“Mubarak might be released, but in the eyes of those who believe in the revolution he will always be a criminal killer and the godfather of corruption,” she said. “This might be another round that we have lost, but we will keep on fighting to change the inhuman regime that releases criminals and imprisons innocent people.”

Others were less hopeful. Mubarak’s freedom meant the families of those killed were “now praying for divine justice”, said Mohsen Bahnasy, a human rights lawyer who served as a member of the commission of inquiry into military abuses committed during the 2011 revolution.

Egypt’s highest appeals court previously rejected demands by the families of those killed during the uprising to bring civil suits against Mubarak for his role in the deaths of protesters. An official inquiry later concluded that 846 people died and a further 6,467 were injured during the revolution, as Egyptian security forces violently suppressed the protests which packed Cairo’s central Tahrir Square.

“The Mubarak acquittal is of significant symbolic value in that it reflects an absolute failure of Egyptian judicial and legal institutions to hold a single official accountable for the killing of almost 900 protesters during the January 25 revolution. It is indicative of a deeper, compounded crisis of transitional justice,” said Mai el Sedany, a legal expert with the Washington thinktank the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

“This is a clear message to all Egyptians that no one will be held accountable for any corruption or oppression in this country – the state is loyal to its men and will continue to be,” said Khatib. “Don’t dream of any revolution again.”

Mubarak’s release comes amid an economic crisis following years of political tumult and worsening security. Egyptians complain of empty pockets and rumbling bellies as inflation exceeds 30% and the government tightens its belt in return for loans from the International Monetary Fund.

“The economic crisis we are living in and the high prices take priority over everything, as does the fear of terrorism. That is what preoccupies ordinary citizens, not Mubarak,” said Khaled Dawoud, an opposition politician who opposed the Islamists but also condemned the bloody crackdown on them.

“When you see the group of people who show up and cheer and support him, you are talking about 150, 200 people,” he said, referring to occasional shows of support outside the Maadi hospital when Mubarak was there.


*Additional reporting by Sharif Abdel Kouddous in Cairo*
*Photos by Mohamed Abd El Ghany and Youssef Boudlal courtesy of Reuters

Judiciary grants Mubarak final acquittal; Counter-revolution complete

The Guardian
Mubarak acquitted in final ruling on Egypt's Arab spring deaths

Former Egyptian president cleared of involvement in death of protesters during 2011 uprising that ended his reign

Egypt’s top appeals court has found Hosni Mubarak innocent of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule, marking the final ruling in a landmark case.

Mubarak was the first of the leaders toppled in a wave of Arab uprisings to face trial. In scenes that captivated Egyptians, he appeared in a courtroom cage on charges ranging from corruption to complicity in the murder of protesters.

The case has traced the trajectory of Egypt’s Arab spring, with Mubarak originally sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for conspiring to murder 239 demonstrators during the 18-day revolt – an uprising that sowed chaos and created a security vacuum but also inspired hope for an era of democracy and social justice.

But an appeals court ordered a retrial that culminated in 2014 in the case against the former president and his senior officials being dropped. An appeal by the public prosecution led to Thursday’s final retrial by the court of cassation.

The 88-year-old ailing former leader resides in a Cairo military hospital, where he served a three-year sentence for a separate corruption case. The military overthrew Mubarak’s successor, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi, in 2013.

After a hearing that took most of the day, Judge Ahmed Abdel Qawi announced to cheers of approval from the Mubarak supporters who filled the courtroom: “The court has found the defendant innocent.”

 
The court also rejected demands by lawyers of the victims to reopen civil suits. That left no remaining option for appeal or retrial, according to a judicial source.

The families of those killed, who had attended the trial early on, were not present on Thursday. Their lawyers condemned the verdict as politically motivated.

“This ruling is not fair and not just. The judiciary is politicised,” said Osman al-Hefnway, a lawyer for the families.

Mubarak’s supporters cheered “long live justice” as the verdict was read out and unfurled posters of the former leader.



*Photos courtesy of Reuters and the Associated Press

Egypt: State builds 19 new prisons since 2011 Revolution

Aswat Masriya
Egypt has built 19 new prisons in five years - Rights group

Monday, Sept. 5, 2016

Egypt has approved the construction of 19 new prisons since January 2011 amid an ongoing crackdown on freedoms, according to report released on Monday by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI.)

The number of prisons has risen in Egypt from 43 to 62 since 2011, when then-president Hosni Mubarak was ousted after a popular uprising against his rule.

Out of the 19 new prisons, 16 were built during the reign of Adli Mansour and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, two under the rule of Mohamed Mursi and one during the transitional period led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. 

According to the report, prisons across Egypt are bursting at the seams due to “random arrests and unjust trials, in addition to the unfair laws passed after July 3, 2013,” when then-Defence Minister Sisi ousted Mursi following mass protests against the latter's rule. 

Hundreds have been arrested for breaking the controversial assembly law issued during the transitional months under then-Interim President Mansour. The law imposes restrictions on protests and stipulates that protesters must obtain a permit from the interior ministry beforehand.

The report also ascribed the government’s need for new prisons to the extension of pre-trial detention periods, which should not exceed two years, according to the law.

Photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, is among those who exceeded the legal maximum period in pre-trial detention, having spent over two years in prison before he was referred to court in December 2015.

There are no official statistics on the interior ministry’s website regarding the number of inmates in Egyptian prisons, but head of the Prison Authority Mostafa Baz said in a televised interview in May 2016 that the number of prisoners stands at 80,000.

However, a source at the Prison Authority, who preferred to remain anonymous, told ANHRI that Egyptian prisoners totaled over 106,000 prisoners, 60,000 of whom are political prisoners, despite security officials repeatedly asserting that Egyptian prisons were free of political prisoners and detainees.

According to the report, the post-July 3 period, as well as the period of sectarian violence during the early 1990s, are the only periods during which the number of political detainees exceeded that of criminal detainees in Egypt. 

The report said that the Egyptian regime needs to recognise the problems that arise from absence of law and accountability policy, saying that “stability may come through repression, or through justice and the rule of law, and the latter is more lasting.”

“The government builds new prisons, detains larger number of activists, at a time when the country suffers an economic crisis and is reluctant to build hospitals, schools and public libraries,” the report read.

*Photo of Torah Prison, courtesy of Reuters

Egypt's bloody dictator faces unusually stinging criticism at home

Associated Press 

Egypt's president under unusually stinging criticism at home

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

CAIRO (AP) — Criticism of Egypt's president has gathered momentum in recent weeks as Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's honeymoon in power appears to be ending.
The boldness of the criticism suggests that el-Sissi's aura as the man who "saved the nation" from Muslim Brotherhood rule and the chaos of revolution has faded. Replacing it now is the image of a leader struggling to fix the economy, stop police abuses or suppress an insurgency by Islamic militants.

A recent speech in which el-Sissi seemed angry and frustrated was widely derided not only by social media mockery but also by powerful voices in the media who had backed el-Sissi's rise to power.
"Mr. President and you gentlemen running the security agencies, you are wrong, and what you are doing will lead to the return of the Brotherhood. That will be hell for you and the people," veteran politician Mohammed Abu el-Ghar wrote. "Read history and think a little, so we can all save Egypt."

For nearly two years, the media commentariat, politicians, officials and religious leaders have pushed a message that any criticism of el-Sissi, his government or security agencies was tantamount to treason, undermining security.

El-Sissi vaulted to heroic status in the media when, as military chief, he led the army's July 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi amid massive protests against political dominance by the Brotherhood. He then won the presidency in a landslide election victory.

Since then, he has waged a fierce crackdown, arresting thousands of Islamists and killing hundreds more and suppressing pro-democracy activists who fueled the 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Public protests have been effectively banned. Rights activists have raised alarm over widespread torture and secret detentions by police.

For nearly two years there was little outcry from the public as many supported any measures to restore stability. But a string of recent troubles has pointed to problems that are harder to explain away as caused by "enemies of Egypt."

The downing of a Russian passenger jet — widely blamed on Islamic militants — highlighted security failures, and the government's reluctance to acknowledge it as a terror attack raised criticism. The attack was a devastating blow to Egypt's tourism industry, which further gutted the economy.

The culture of abuse inside security forces, meanwhile, may have landed el-Sissi's government in an international scandal. An Italian graduate student, Giulio Regeni, disappeared on Jan. 25 and he was later found tortured to death.

Last week, the European Parliament passed a resolution that stopped just short of accusing Egyptian authorities of killing Regeni. Egyptian officials deny police were behind his death, but even some supporters in the media have cast doubt on the denials.

The government's image was dented by a series of court rulings seen as outrageous. Among them, a young author was sentenced to two years in prison for the publication of sexually explicit excerpts from his novel — a step not taken under Mubarak or the Islamist Morsi. The sentence angered artists and intelligentsia who long cheered el-Sissi out of fear of Islamists.

"Your state is a theocracy, Mr. President," columnist Ibrahim Eissa wrote. "Your state and its agencies, just like those of your predecessor, hate intellectuals, thought and creativity."

El-Sissi has also appeared vulnerable in his government's struggles to repair an economy deeply damaged by five years of turmoil.

The government has been forced to let the Egyptian pound's official value slide to record lows. That has prompted public fears of price increases, given Egypt's dependence on imports.

Another difficult question is how to deal with subsidies that eat up billions of dollars but are vital for millions of impoverished Egyptians. El-Sissi partially lifted fuel subsides last year without unrest, a tribute to his popularity. But another envisaged round of reductions may not go down so well as Egyptians cope with higher prices and unemployment.

Abdullah el-Sennawy, a prominent pro-el-Sissi columnist, warned that further cuts would be "political suicide."

"To recklessly deal with the lives of ordinary people who can barely secure basic life requirements is a recipe for social unrest that security agencies won't be able to contain," he wrote in the Al-Shorouk newspaper.

El-Sissi's own ranting, televised speech on Feb. 24 damaged his image of being in control.

He demanded Egyptians listen to no one but him and stop criticizing the government, vowing to "remove from the face of the Earth" anyone who tries to "bring down" the state.

On the economy, he called on Egyptians to work harder and donate to the government. In a melodramatic gesture, he said he was prepared to sell himself if that would benefit Egypt — opening a rich vein of mockery on social media. Someone quickly posted an ad on the auction website eBay for a "slightly used" general, with el-Sissi's picture.

The speech went over terribly.

"Don't tell us we must listen to you alone," said Youssef el-Husseini, a TV anchorman and firm el-Sissi supporter. "No, we want to do a great deal of talking, discussions and speaking about democracy. Is it democratic to tell us to only listen to you?"

Azza el-Hennawy, an outspoken state TV host, blasted el-Sissi's call for Egyptians to work harder.
"Egyptians do work," she said, "but most, perhaps even all, government leaders don't work. You too, your excellency, don't work. You have not resolved a single issue since you took office."

With the bolder criticism, budding dissent emerged last week within long silent political circles.

A group of politicians and public figures led by leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who ran for president against el-Sissi in 2014, announced a coalition to create a "political alternative" toward a democratic Egypt.

The group avoided directly challenging el-Sissi, but the open talk of an "alternative" was startling.
Also, members of the 50-seat assembly that drafted the 2014 constitution and several prominent figures announced they would work to "protect" the document, opening up a new front of political pressure.

That constitution — perhaps Egypt's most liberal ever — set strong civil rights guarantees and liberties that have been widely ignored since, particularly by the security agencies and the judiciary.


*Artwork courtesy of Carlos Latuff

Working as a journalist in Egypt is as dangerous as openly demonstrating against the regime - RSF report

Mada Masr
Reporters Without Borders decries persecution of journalists under Sisi

 

Monday, February 22, 2016 

 

 

“The situation of journalists in Egypt is unacceptable,” the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RWB) declared in a letter sent to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday. The group exhorted the president to release the dozens of journalists, bloggers and media staffers currently detained in Egyptian jails.

The Journalists Syndicate has documented at least 32 journalists currently detained or serving prison sentences nationwide, of which at least 18 were arrested while reporting news in public.

In April 2015, RSF ranked Egypt very poorly in its global press freedom index, at 158 out of 180 countries. Since then, the number of media raids and the arrests and prosecution of journalists and editors has continued to rise.

Prominent cases include that of investigative reporter Hossam Bahgat, who in early November 2015 was summoned for questioning by military intelligence pursuant to an article he wrote for Mada Masr. Bahgat was detained and released two days later, only after signing an agreement to not write about the Armed Forces beyond the legal bounds set for him. The case against him may be ongoing.

Similar incidents took place in December and January against several other media professionals.
“In 2015, Egypt became one the world’s biggest prisons for journalists. In most cases, their only ‘error’ was to have covered demonstrations or protests or to have spoken with members of the Muslim Brotherhood (which [Egypt has] declared to be a ‘terrorist organization’) in the course of their reporting,” the group continued.

In December 2015, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) listed Egypt as the second worst jailer of journalists worldwide, trailing shortly behind China. The number of jailed journalists in Egypt rose dramatically in 2015, CPJ said, nearly doubling in number after Sisi’s administration assumed power.

RWB argued that several other journalists are being “held on trumped-up charges unrelated to press offenses,” including charges of affiliation with a terrorist organization, partaking in unauthorized protests, disseminating false information and disturbing the public order.

For instance, on November 29, authorities arrested the investigative journalist and sociopolitical researcher Ismail Alexandrani on charges of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and disseminating false information. His detention has repeatedly been renewed since his arrest.

Amnesty International and several other rights groups decried the arrest, arguing Alexandrani is being targeted for his criticism of the authorities in his academic and journalistic work.

“Working as a journalist in Egypt has become as dangerous as openly demonstrating against the regime,” the RWB statement claimed.

Many of these detained journalists have been “subjected to unjust trials that violate Egypt’s 2014 Constitution and international human rights law, demonstrating the Egyptian justice system’s lack of independence,” the letter charged. “Respect for the fundamental freedoms of Egyptian citizens and foreign residents has unfortunately declined since [Sisi] became Egypt’s president in 2014.”

RWB’s statement pointed to certain high-profile cases of journalists and media staffers held behind bars since the military-led takeover of government on July 3, 2013. Among them, photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (popularly known as Shawkan), who spent more than two years in jail before standing trial, violating the Penal Code’s two-year cap on pretrial detention.

The French NGO’s statement noted that several journalists have been sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment, while others have been tortured or denied critical medical treatment while in detention.

RWB also pointed to the three journalists killed by security forces while covering the dispersal of the pro-Brotherhood Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in on August 14, 2013.

More than two years later, “no investigation had been opened into the deaths of these journalists or the massacre that took place that day, and none of those responsible have been arrested,” said RWB, adding that no security personnel have been held accountable for the murders of journalists since the popular uprising of January 2011.

The statement concluded with an exhortation “to release these unjustly detained journalists and to stop persecuting them. Otherwise, Egypt’s prospects for the future will be very dim in the long term.”

On Jan 25 anniversary, police arrest more than 150 people nationwide

Mada Masr
At least 150 people arrested nationwide on Jan 25 anniversary

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Police forces were deployed in huge numbers in the streets and squares of Egypt’s urban centers on the fifth anniversary of the 2011 uprising, with media reports suggesting at least 150 opposition protesters were arrested across the country on Monday.

Arrests have been ongoing in the lead-up to the anniversary. On Sunday, Akhbar al-Youm reported the administrator of the Revolutionary Socialists Facebook page was arrested on charges of instigating violence by calling for protests on January 25. The paper claimed that the administrator, 24-year-old Mohamed Essam, was actually a member of the banned April 6 Youth Movement.

On Monday, prosecutors extended his detention for another 15 days pending criminal investigations, according to Akhbar al-Youm.

Also on Sunday, the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported police arrested 78 Muslim Brotherhood members in Giza as part of their security crackdown in the lead-up to the revolution anniversary.

On Monday, demonstrators who came out to show support for the police and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi were photographed waving Egyptian flags, brandishing portraits of the president and handing flowers to the troops without any interference from security personnel.

 Sisi supporters in Tahrir Square, January 25, 2016

But Islamist and leftist opposition protesters appear to have been widely targeted. While tallies from local news outlets put the number of arrests or detentions at over 150 on Monday, no official numbers have been released. The latest update to the Interior Ministry’s official website featured photos of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi celebrating the 64th National Police Day at the Police Academy in New Cairo.

The majority of arrests targeted purported Muslim Brotherhood members, according to local media. The Cabinet declared the Brotherhood a banned terrorist organization in December 2013, leading some media outlets to refer Monday’s detainees as “terrorist elements.”

Monday’s arrests were concentrated in Cairo and the Nile Delta Governorate of Gharbiya, where several news outlets trumpeted the same headline: “Police arrest 40 Brotherhood members in preemptive raids.” The date and time of the raids were not mentioned, and Mada Masr was unable to determine if they occurred on Monday or earlier.

In Cairo, police forces arrested 60 Brotherhood members in several locations in and around the capital, an unnamed senior security official told the privately owned Youm7 news site.

Police arrested another 42 people allegedly affiliated with the Brotherhood near Cairo’s Mostorod Bridge, according to Youm7. They were apprehended as they got off a bus and headed to the nearby Matareya neighborhood, where the news outlet claimed they were intending to protest and “spread chaos.”

The anonymous security source told Youm7 that “six other members of the terrorist Brotherhood” were arrested in the adjacent district of Ain Shams while “seeking to protest and to commit acts of violence.”

Another 12 “terrorists” were reportedly arrested in Cairo’s southeastern neighborhoods of Helwan and Dar al-Salam while attempting to conduct marches and street protests.

Elsewhere, the privately owned Al-Watan newspaper reported that six members of the Brotherhood were arrested in Cairo’s satellite 6th of October City, which falls within the Giza Governorate. They were reportedly arrested on charges of attempting to block the roads after participating in a small protest of a few dozen people, which was forcefully dispersed by police units.

Another three protesters were arrested just north of Cairo in the industrial district of Shubra al-Kheima, located in the Qalyubiya Governorate. They were detained on charges of obstructing traffic while protesting and blocking the roads by burning tires, the privately owned Al-Shorouk news site reported.

In Alexandria, police arrested 15 purported Brotherhood members on Monday, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA). The arrests occurred as dozens of people took to the streets to protest. MENA also claimed that security forces defused two explosive devices planted in Alexandria’s Al-Max and Moharram Beik neighborhoods.

In the central governorate of Fayoum, police forces arrested 15 Brotherhood-affiliated protesters in Qasr al-Basil district and impounded 22 motorcycles used in their protest, the privately owned Veto news site reported.

Akhbar al-Youm reported that police forces fired tear gas to disperse “terrorist” protesters in the Nile Delta governorate of Kafr al-Sheikh when they allegedly attempted to block off a highway leading to the town of Balteem. Police forces arrested 10 of these “trouble-making” protesters, Akhbar al-Youm wrote, all of whom were alleged Brotherhood members.

In Damietta City, the privately-owned Al-Bawaba news site reported five members of the “terrorist Muslim Brotherhood” were arrested for conducting unauthorized street protests in violation of the controversial protest law. They are reportedly being detained until prosecutors conclude their investigations into the protest.

The privately owned Akhbar Masr news site added that they were arrested in the evening while marching in a protest out of the city’s Galal Kuraytam Square.

Many other arrests linked to protest actions were reported across several other governorates, but the numbers of detainees and further details were not published in local media outlets.

 *Photos by Basma Fathy

Egypt: 4 dead as police take control on Jan 25 anniversary

Mada Masr
4 dead as police take control on Jan 25 anniversary

Monday January 25, 2016

On the fifth anniversary of the January 25 revolution, it was the police that took to the streets, distributing flowers and chocolate amid scattered groups of their supporters and those of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

A celebratory atmosphere was especially present in the prominent Tahrir and Rabea al-Adaweya squares, where crowds cheered for security forces.

In other areas around the country, however, security presence intensified. In Matareya, police quickly dispersed a small protest allegedly staged by the Muslim Brotherhood, according to state-owned Al-Ahram.

Police forces also killed two people in 6th of October City in an exchange of fire. Al-Ahram reported that security forces raided an apartment after receiving information that two assailants involved in attacks in Giza's Haram district were located there. The two men shot at police officers as they attempted to arrest them, according to the newspaper, leading security forces to respond with deadly force.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry stated that it also received reports of an individual storing explosives in an apartment in Kerdasa. Police forces reportedly engaged in an exchange of fire with the suspect, Mohamed Abdel Hamid, eventually killing him.

Another alleged member of the Muslim Brotherhood was also shot in Kerdasa, according to a statement by the ministry.

In Beni Suef, a man was killed as he attacked a police checkpoint, according to Al-Ahram. The newspaper did not provide other details.




*Photo of Sisi supporters handing flowers to heavily-armed masked police in Tahrir Square, by Basma Fathy

Egypt remembers 'Martyr of Roses' Shaimaa al-Sabbagh

Mada Masr
Commemorations for 'martyr of roses' Shaimaa al-Sabbagh

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Commemorations were held in Alexandria on Sunday to mark one year since the death of political activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh at the hands of police.

Thousands of mourners also expressed condolences for the “martyr of roses,” as she has become known, on social media.

Police forces shot Sabbagh during a peaceful rally near downtown Cairo’s Talaat Harb Square on January 24, 2015, in which she, and a small group of leftist activists, held roses in remembrance of all those killed by police forces in Egypt’s 2011 revolution.

The 32-year-old poet, wife, mother of six-year-old Belal, and member of the Popular Socialist Alliance Party, became an icon of resistance and a moving symbol of police brutality on the fourth anniversary of the January 25 revolution, as photos and videos emerged of her being carried away after she was shot by security forces.

Sunday’s memorial was held at Manara Cemetery, where Sabbagh is buried in her hometown of Alexandria. Local media reported that dozens of members of the Popular Socialist Alliance Party, along with Sabbagh’s friends and family, attended the memorial, holding photos of the young activist by her graveside, which was covered with roses.

The liberal opposition April 6 Youth Movement tweeted in Arabic, “Martyr of Roses … The regime’s security forces killed her when she attempted to commemorate the martyrs of #Jan25.”

Another Twitter user wrote, “Shaimaa sought to pay tribute to the martyrs, and ended up in their company.”

Egypt’s prosecutor general referred 13 members of the Popular Socialist Alliance Party to investigation following Sabbagh's death, for protesting without permission. However, they were acquitted by an appeals court in October 2015.

In June, the police officer accused of killing Sabbagh was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the excessive use of force. Lieutenant Yassin Salah Eddin appealed the verdict, which is due to be heard in court on February 14.

Only a handful of Egypt’s security forces have been brought to trial for the deaths of protesters in the last five years.

The day after Sabbagh’s death, security forces killed 18 protesters, injured 52, and arrested several others on January 25, 2015, according to Health Ministry figures.

Last year, the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi cancelled and banned all commemorations of the January 25 revolution, choosing instead to mark the death of the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who passed away on January 23.

*Photo courtesy of Shaimaa al-Sabbagh Facebook page

Ahead of anniverary of Jan. 25 Revolt - Police arrest opposition activists

Mada Masr

Four members of April 6th Movement detained, two others wanted on charges of illegal protest & belonging to a banned group

Monday, December 28, 2015

Four members of the April 6 Youth movement were arrested Monday and charged with illegal protests and belonging to a banned organization. An additional two are wanted by prosecutors but by Monday evening had not been arrested.

The charges stem from a December 21 protest in Dokki Square, but lawyers representing the detainees say they were targeted as part of a broader effort to suppress dissent ahead of the fifth anniversary of the January 25 revolution.

Ayman Abdel Meguid, Mohamed Nabil and Mahmoud Hesham were arrested from their homes in the early hours of Monday morning, said Ahmed Othman of the Association for Free Thought and Expression, one of the lawyers involved in the case. The fourth detainee, Sherif al-Rouby was arrested on the street.

All four are being held at the Dokki Police Station and may be referred to Central Security Forces Camp informally known as Camp 10.5, Othman told Mada Masr.

They are scheduled for a hearing on January 10, but Othman said he expects their pretrial detention will be extended until January 25 has passed.

Two others, Islam Abdel Hamid Orabi and Mohammed Samih al-Bayoumi, are wanted by prosecution but have not been arrested.

According to a statement posted on the April 6 Youth Movement Facebook page, the six have been charged with calling for protests, participating in a protest without a permit, and possession of flares. Hesham and Orabi have also been charged with instigating protests.

Under the November 2013 protest law, participants in unsanctioned protests face two to five years in prison and a sentence of up to seven years for possession of explosive devices such as fireworks while protesting.

Othman told Mada Masr prosecutors had not yet produced proof that any of the men charged had attended the December 21 demonstration.

Nabil, Bayoumi, Rouby and Abdel Meguid also face charges of belonging to a banned organization, although the charges do not clarify which organization they allegedly belong to.

In April 2014, a Cairo court banned the activities of the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the groups instrumental in organizing the January 2011 protests that led to the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak. According to the court ruling, the group is responsible for “acts that tarnish Egypt’s image as well as espionage.”

The movement remained defiant following the arrests on Monday.

“We demand the immediate release of our abducted members and we hold the regime responsible for their safety,” the group declared in a statement. “The revolution continues and will not rest and or remain silent.”


*Photo by Virginie Nguyen

Egypt: In one week, three cases of torture & deaths in police custody

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Ahram Online

Egypt policeman accused of torture, murder transferred from Luxor post

Saturday 28 Nov 2015

Media reports citing security sources have suggested that the policeman accused of torturing a man to death in Luxor earlier this week has been transferred from his post at the El-Awameya police station.

On Friday, hundreds marched across Luxor to protest the death of Talaat Shabeeb, with demonstrators chanting anti-police slogans and demanding the dismissal of the head of the El-Awameya police station where the victim was being held.

The prosecutor-general has opened an investigation into the case and the forensic authority has been tasked with determining the cause of death.

On Thursday, Luxor’s prosecutor-general ordered the release of 24 people who were arrested on Wednesday night after demonstrators clashed with police outside El-Awameya police station over Shabeeb’s death.

There have been unconfirmed reports on Saturday that Luxor Security Directorate officers will stage a vigil later tonight to offer condolences to Shabeeb’s family.

Security officials had said on Wednesday that the 47-year-old Shabeeb, a father of four, was arrested at a local El-Awameya café for the illegal possession of prescription painkillers, and had later fallen ill before being taken to Luxor International Hospital where he died.

In a press statement released shortly after his death, the head of Luxor security Essam El-Hamali claimed that Shabeeb was a drug dealer and had a criminal record.

Shabeeb's family, however, claims that Shabeeb was in fact arrested over a personal dispute with a policeman, and not for drug possession.

The family denied that Shabeeb was a drug dealer, stating that he worked as a papyrus vendor at Luxor's ancient temples.

Shabeeb’s family also claims that Shabeeb died at the police station, not the hospital, half an hour after his arrest.

A video and photos of Shabeeb's dead body have been released online by his family, showing what the family says are signs he sustained beatings before he died.

Ahram Online could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

The family also released a copy of what they say is a hospital medical report stating that Shabeeb was already dead upon arriving at the hospital.

The assistant to the interior minister for media and public relations, Major General Abu Bakr Abdel-Karim, has repeatedly stated that if any policeman is found guilty of wrongdoing, they will be held accountable.

Some locals in Luxor, Upper Egypt, have set up a Facebook page titled "We are Talaat Shabeeb."

Shabeeb’s case is the third in Egypt involving allegations of police abuse over the past week, with the latest involving an Ismailiya policeman who is accused of torturing a man to death while he was in police custody.

On Thursday, another police officer was detained in Greater Cairo for four days pending an investigation into allegations of assault and abuse of power. The officer is being accused of assaulting a bus driver in the satellite city of 6 October over a traffic dispute, as well as conducting a false arrest and filing a false police report accusing the driver of illicit drug possession.

Torture is prohibited by Egypt's 2014 constitution, with Article 52 stating that "torture in all its forms is a crime without a statute of limitations."

However, local and international rights group have said that torture by security forces remains prevalent in Egypt.

Court orders release of Mubarak's sons after acquitting them of corruption charges

Associated Press

Egypt court orders release of Hosni Mubarak's sons

Gamal and Alaa Mubarak were detained in 2011 after their father stood down as president and will be freed due to time already served

Monday 12 October, 2015

A court in Egypt has ordered the release from prison of the sons of the country’s former president Hosni Mubarak, taking into account the time they have already served.

The Cairo criminal court ordered the release of Gamal, Mubarak’s one-time heir apparent, and his brother Alaa, a wealthy businessman, after they were both sentenced in May to three years in prison in a corruption case dubbed the presidential palaces affair by the Egyptian media.

They were first detained in April 2011, two months after their father stepped down during a popular uprising against his three decades in power, but were freed in January on bail before being convicted in May along with Mubarak, who is being held in a military hospital.

The trio’s conviction, which came after a retrial, was for embezzling millions of dollars in state funds over a decade, diverting money meant to pay for renovating and maintaining presidential palaces to upgrade their private residences.

Gamal and Alaa are also facing trial on insider trading charges, with the next hearing in October. They are expected to walk free later on Monday.

During sentencing in May, the three men were ordered to pay 125m Egyptian pounds (£10.4m) and return 21m Egyptian pounds they embezzled. After the hearing, judicial and security officials said those amounts had already been paid by the Mubaraks after their first trial.

Many Egyptians view the brothers as key symbols of an autocratic and corrupt administration that struck an alliance with the mega-wealthy at the expense of the poor.

The rise of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who has vowed stability after four years of unrest and taken a tough line against dissent, has encouraged Mubarak supporters and upended the public perception and media depiction of the 2011 uprising.

Political activists are now often cast as troublemakers or foreign agents and hundreds of the young activists who sparked the revolt four years ago are either in prison on charges of breaking a new protest law or have left the country.


*Photo courtesy of ONA news agency

Sisi's state begins to demolish revolutionary mural wall commemorating Jan. 25 Uprising

Aswat Masriya
Graffiti wall in downtown Cairo to be removed in part

Thursday Sept 17 2015

 
Workers were seen demolishing a part of the wall surrounding the American University in Cairo on Thursday.

"In the framework of beautifying Tahrir Sqaure, the Egyptian government asked the American University in Cairo to either develop or remove its Science building along with its walls on Mohamed Mahmoud street," Rehab Saad, Director of Media Relations at the American University of Cairo, told Aswat Masriya in a phone interview.

"The university decided to demolish parts of the walls and replace them by an iron gate," she added.

Mohamed Mahmoud street, which is a side street from Egypt's famed Tahrir Square, is known for the graffiti on its walls, which includes symbols of the January uprising , the battles on the street, and murals inspired by Egypt's heritage.


*Photos by Ahmed Hamed - courtesy of Aswat Masriya

International Condemnation of Prison Sentences Issued Against Al-Jazeera Staff

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 

Egypt: Guilty verdict against Al Jazeera journalists affront to justice
August 29, 2015 

 
The guilty verdicts handed down against Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed are an affront to justice that sound the death knell for freedom of expression in Egypt, said Amnesty International.

The Cairo criminal court ruled that the journalists broadcasted “false news” and worked without registration, sentencing Mohamed Fahmy to three years in prison and Baher Mohamed to three and a half years in prison. Their co-defendant, Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, was convicted in his absence and sentence to three years in prison.

“This is a farcical verdict which strikes at the heart of freedom of expression in Egypt. The charges against Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were always baseless and politicized, and they should never have been arrested and tried in the first place,” said Philip Luther, Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“The fact that two of these journalists are now facing time in jail following two grossly unfair trials makes a mockery of justice in Egypt. Today’s verdict must be overturned immediately – Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed should be allowed to walk free without conditions. We consider them to be prisoners of conscience, jailed solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.”

Amnesty International is also urging the Egyptian authorities to facilitate Mohamed Fahmy’s request for deportation from Egypt to Canada.

Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed had been on bail since Egypt’s highest court of appeal overturned their previous conviction on 1 January 2015. They were previously serving seven and 10-year prison sentences respectively. Both men can now appeal the verdict once more before the Court of Cassation.

The court also sentenced a group of Egyptians tried in their presence on similar charges to three years, including students who said that security forces had beaten them following their arrest last year. One student told the court in a recent hearing that security forces had tortured him after re-arresting him in early June.

The authorities should ensure a prompt, independent and impartial investigation is conducted into the defendants’ allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.

“Today’s ruling is sadly only the tip of the iceberg. The Egyptian authorities are relentlessly cracking down on independent and critical media across the country to silence dissent – including foreign reporting. Dozens of journalists have been arrested over the past two years, and over 20 are today in detention,” said Philip Luther.

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Committee to Protect Journalists
CPJ condemns conviction, sentence in Egypt's retrial of Al-Jazeera journalists

August 29, 2015

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction of three Al-Jazeera journalists in their retrial in Egypt today. A Cairo court sentenced Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, Baher Mohamed, and Peter Greste to three years in prison each for "aiding a terrorist organization," spreading false news, and working without a license, according to news reports. Baher Mohamed was sentenced to an additional six months in jail for possession of a spent bullet casing.

"This trial has been carried out with no evidence and has caused great pain to Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste, and their families," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said. "We call on Egyptian authorities to put an end to the abuse of the law which has made Egypt one of the riskiest countries in the world to be a journalist."

The three journalists had been convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in June 2014 for "conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood," which the government has banned. A retrial was ordered after a court said the journalists were convicted despite a lack of evidence, according to news reports. Greste, who is Australian, was retried in absentia.

The high-profile case is emblematic of the threats faced by journalists in Egypt. According to CPJ research, at least 22 journalists were behind bars for their reporting in Egypt on August 12, 2015. Most of the journalists jailed in Egypt are accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said in late 2014 that he would consider pardoning the three Al-Jazeera journalists.



*Photo by Khaled Desouki, courtesy of AFP

Newspaper Censorship Resumes Under Sisi

Aswat Masriya
Strong Indicators On Return of Newspaper Censorship' - Egypt's Press Syndicate

Sunday, 23 August 2015

The Egyptian press syndicate condemned on Sunday "halting the printing of newspapers and intervening in their contents."

The syndicate voiced concern over the "emergence of strong indicators on return of newspaper censorship."

The contents of newspapers have been omitted or amended by "unknown oversight bodies", the syndicate's freedom committee said in a statement posted on its website, citing the chief editors of newspapers.

This has been recurring over the past period inside state printing houses, the syndicate added.

Gamal Soltan, the chief editor of ِAlmesreyoon said on Twitter on Saturday that "a sovereign authority decided to stop the printing" of the paper in objection to an article by the chief editor with the title, "Why does Sisi not stop playing the role of the Islamic thinker?"

The authority said the article must be changed.

The freedom committee at the press syndicate said it was observed that all of the topics which were not printed are about top state leadership, which indicates that there a direction to restrict press freedom and freedom of expression.

The press syndicate said one newspaper was shredded after printing and the printing of two newspapers was stalled on one day to change specific topics.

Almesreyoon among other newspapers that have been subjected to this.

"The freedom committee calls for an end to these violations," the statement said.

Article 71 of the Egyptian Constitution said the censoring, confiscation, suspension or shutdown of newspapers and media services is prohibited. It adds that they me placed under limited censorship in time of war.

Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified the anti-terrorism law, which issues the green light for a series of new penalties that can be applied onto people involved in terror-related activities.

Rights groups have feared that the law expands the definition of terrorism and that it will restrict press freedom.

The Egyptian state maintains that does not limit press freedoms. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi denied earlier in August that any journalists are detained in Egypt in cases related to publishing or press freedom.

Obama regime celebrates its arming of Sisi dictatorship with YouTube video

The Intercept

U.S. Government Celebrates Its Arming of the Egyptian Regime With a YouTube Video

August 3, 2015 

Glenn Greenwald

The Egyptian regime run by the despotic General Abdelfattah al-Sisi is one of the world’s most brutal and repressive. Last year, Human Rights Watch documented that that Egyptian “security forces have carried out mass arrests and torture that harken back to the darkest days of former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.”

Just two months ago, the group warned that the abuses have “escalated,” and that Sisi, “governing by decree in the absence of an elected parliament, ha[s] provided near total impunity for security force abuses and issued a raft of laws that severely curtailed civil and political rights, effectively erasing the human rights gains of the 2011 uprising that ousted the longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.”

Despite that repression — or, more accurately, because of it — the Obama administration has lavished the regime with aid, money and weapons, just as the U.S. government did for decades in order to prop up Hosni Mubarak. When Sisi took power in a coup, not only did the U.S. government support him but it praised him for restoring “democracy.”

Since then, the U.S. has repeatedly sent arms and money to the regime as its abuses became more severe. As the New York Times delicately put it yesterday, “American officials . . . signaled that they would not let their concerns with human rights stand in the way of increased security cooperation with Egypt.”
None of that is new: A staple of U.S. foreign policy has long been to support heinous regimes as long as they carry out U.S. dictates, all in order to keep domestic populations in check and prevent their views and beliefs (which are often averse to the U.S.) from having any effect on the actions of their own government.

Just today, the American and Egyptian governments jointly issued a lengthy statement on a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, which it said was “based on the shared belief that it is necessary to deepen the Egypt-U.S. bilateral relationship to advance our shared interest after almost four decades of close partnership and cooperation.”

While Kerry suggested in the meeting that severe repression may not be strategically shrewd, the official statement did not even reference, let alone condemn, the regime’s human rights abuses: credit for not pretending to care, I suppose.

[The U.S. media pretended to be on the side of Tahir Square democracy protesters despite decades of support from the American government for Mubarak. Recall that in 2009 Hillary Clinton pronounced: “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family.”

 A WikiLeaks cable, anticipating the first meeting between Obama and Mubarak in 2009, emphasized that “the Administration wants to restore the sense of warmth that has traditionally characterized the U.S.-Egyptian partnership” and that “the Egyptians want the visit to demonstrate that Egypt remains America’s ‘indispensible [sic] Arab ally.’” The cable noted that “[intelligence] Chief Omar Soliman and Interior Minister al-Adly keep the domestic beasts at bay, and Mubarak is not one to lose sleep over their tactics.”]

The Leader of the Free World’s long and clear history of lavishing the world’s most repressive regimes with money and weapons is usually carried out with a bit of stealth, so that its inspiring, self-flattering rhetoric about Supporting Freedom and Democracy — used to justify invasions and other forms of imperial domination — will be credible to its domestic media and population (even if to nobody else in the world). But this week, the U.S. government not only proudly touted its sending of weapons to the Cairo regime, but published a video celebrating it.

The official Twitter account of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Friday actually posted this:

@USEmbassyCairo

The US delivered 8 new F16s to the Egy Air Force this week - watch them fly over Cairo! #تحيا_مصر https://youtu.be/3HyIShSxwtY 

 

4:55 PM - 31 Jul 2015 (UTC)

YouTube @YouTube

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•  *Photo of Obama & Sisi regimes courtesy of Reuters