Former prez. candidate sentenced to jail, in bid to bar him from 2018 elections

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Egypt: Former presidential candidate given jail term in bid to stop him running in 2018 election

25 September 2017

Today’s conviction of Khalid Ali, a former presidential candidate and prominent human rights lawyer who is widely viewed as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s top contender for the 2018 presidential elections, is politically motivated, said Amnesty International.

Khaled Ali was sentenced to three months in prison which would prevent him from standing in the 2018 presidential elections if the verdict is confirmed on appeal. The court found him guilty of “violating public decency” in relation to a photograph showing him celebrating a court victory after successfully reversing a controversial Egyptian government decision to hand over control of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

He was released on a bail of 1000 Egyptian pounds pending appeal.

“Khaled Ali’s politically motivated conviction today is a clear signal that the Egyptian authorities are intent on eliminating any rival who could stand in the way of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s victory in next year’s elections. It also illustrates the government’s ruthless determination to crush dissent to consolidate its power,” said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s Head of North Africa Campaigns.

“It beggars belief that Khaled Ali, a prominent human rights lawyer and political activist, has been given a jail term simply for celebrating his victory in a court case. His conviction on this absurd charge must be quashed.”

The trial in Khaled Ali’s case was also riddled with flaws; the court issued its decision without hearing the defence lawyers’ final pleadings or allowing them to cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution about disputed video evidence submitted against Khaled Ali, which his defence lawyers argued was fabricated.

Earlier this year Amnesty International warned that the Egyptian authorities have intensified their crackdown on opposition activists ahead of the 2018 presidential election by rounding up activists from opposition parties. 



*Photo by Mohamed El-Shahed, courtesy of AFP/Getty Images

Egyptian authorities now blocking over 100 websites

Quartz Africa
Egypt has blocked over 100 local and international websites including HuffPost and Medium

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Abdi Latif Dahir

The list of blocked websites in Egypt keeps growing, as the government widens what some say is an unprecedented crackdown on both local and international digital outlets. So far, 114 websites have been blocked in the north African nation since May 24, according to the latest figures from the non-governmental organization Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.

A majority of these are news websites, but also included are platforms that can be used to access blocked sites or that allow for anonymous browsing and communication.

The affected websites include sites like Mada Masr, the financial newspaper Al Borsa, and Huffington Post Arabic. Twelve websites linked to Al Jazeera were also been blocked. Medium, the online publishing platform, was also banned.

The outage also affected Tor, the free software that provides users with online anonymity, and Tor bridges, which helps users circumvent the blocking of Tor itself. The website of the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), an international network that monitors internship censorship and surveillance, was also blocked.  

The growing censorship comes as the government says it’s cracking down on websites that are “publishing false information” and “supporting terrorism.” (Link in Arabic) Egypt is currently in the midst of a three-month state emergency, following twin attacks on churches that killed almost 50 people in April.

The country is also part of a Saudi-led coalition that has put a blockade on Qatar, demanding, among other things, the closure of the Doha-based Al Jazeera media network which it considers to a be a propaganda tool for Islamists. The government of president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is also embroiled in a maritime demarcation agreement over its decision to vote on the transfer of two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia—a move that has angered many Egyptians.

However, journalists and activists say the campaign is suppressing free expression and voices critical of the government. Some are accusing the regime of failing to disclose any judicial or administrative decision to block the sites—or whether emergency law provisions were applied.

“Even in the darkest days of the repressive Mubarak era, the authorities didn’t cut off access to all independent news sites,” Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s north Africa campaigns director, said.

In a June 19 report, OONI stated that deep packet inspection technology was being used to monitor and block these websites. Mada Masr, one of the blocked sites, also reported that the decision to block the sites was carried through a “centralized decision” by the government rather than by the country’s telecoms or internet service providers.

Since going offline, sites like Mada have been publishing articles on Facebook. Lina Attallah, the editor of the site, said the strategy of blocking the sites works to the government’s advantage for now.

“If they did something more grave like arresting team members or me it would make big noise, whereas blocking the website is the best way to paralyze us without paying a high price for it,” Attallah told Reuters.


*Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany, courtesy of Reuters

Traitor Sisi ratifies agreement handing over two Egyptian islands to KSA

Mada Masr
Sisi ratifies Tiran and Sanafir agreement, cedes islands to Saudi Arabia

Saturday, 24 June 2017

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified the maritime border demarcation agreement that cedes sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, according to a Cabinet statement.

The Tiran and Sanafir agreement was passed with a majority in Parliament on June 14, with only 119 MPs voting against it.

Sisi was able to seal the deal with Saudi Arabia after the Supreme Constitutional Court temporarily froze two contradictory rulings, one issued by the State Council in January and the other by the Court of Urgent Matters in April, on Wednesday.

In June 2016 the State Council’s Court of Administrative Justice (CAJ) annulled the agreement signed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail in April of the same year. This was followed by two Court of Urgent Matters rulings on September 29 and December 31 to overturn the CAJ’s decision.

However, on January 16, the State Council’s Supreme Administrative Court upheld the initial June ruling, stating that the deal was a concession of territory, an act that is prohibited per Article 151 of the Constitution. On April 2, the Court of Urgent Matters overturned the CAJ’s decision.

Several political parties and prominent politicians held a press conference on June 12, ahead of Parliament’s discussion of the deal, to announce a series of sit-ins protesting the agreement which many members of Egypt’s opposition hailed as unconstitutional.

The presser was attended by dozens of activists and members of several political parties, as well as former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi and Khaled Ali. Also in attendance were ousted chief of the Central Auditing Authority Hesham Geneina, expelled member of Parliament Mohamed Anwar Sadat, critical journalist Khaled al-Balshy, National Council for Human Rights member George Ishaq and former Ambassador Masoum Marzouk.

Following Parliament’s approval, hundreds of members of professional syndicates signed statements in opposition to the Tiran and Sanafir agreement, including 850 journalists, 620 members of the Engineers Syndicate’s general assembly and more than 600 members of the Cinema Syndicate, among others.

Since the June press conference security forces have carried out an extensive arrest campaign across several governorates, apprehending more than 120 activists and protesters seen to oppose the deal.

Syndicates mobilize against handover of Tiran & Sanafir islands

Mada Masr
Syndicates mobilize against Tiran and Sanafir agreement

Monday, 19 June 2017

Hundreds of members of professional syndicates have signed statements in opposition to Parliament’s recent approval of the Tiran and Sanafir agreement, brokered by Egypt and Saudi Arabia in April 2016.

Eight hundred and fifty journalists issued a statement on Sunday announcing that they reject the agreement, which concedes sovereignty over the two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, describing it as invalid and “demanding that state institutions respect the Constitution and the law, and the blood of martyrs who defended Egyptian land.”

The Journalists Syndicate announced that it would launch an investigation into the sit-in held in its headquarters on Wednesday, protesting the agreement.

Hatem Zakareya, a member of the syndicate’s board, told Mada Masr that no request was submitted before the protest, in violation of the syndicate’s bylaws. He added that investigations will also be launched into footage aired on Al Jazeera and other pro-Muslim Brotherhood channels from inside the building and its entrance showing non-syndicate members attending the protest.

Gamal Abdel Rehim, one of four syndicate board members who signed a statement rejecting the agreement, told Mada Masr that allegations that Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated channels entered the syndicate are untrue, arguing that it is not necessary to submit a request before initiating sit-ins at the syndicate.

“Never in the history of the syndicate has any group submitted a request to start a sit-in,” he said, adding that it is common for non-syndicate members to join political action taking place within the syndicate.

A statement was also signed by 620 members of the Engineers Syndicate’s general assembly denouncing the deal, labeling it unconstitutional. The statement criticized “attempts to pressure opposition and the blocking of websites that attempt to reveal the truth of the matter.”

The statement mirrors that issued by the Journalists Syndicate, calling on citizens to exercise their constitutional right to express their opinions peacefully “in defense of the blood of the martyrs who died to defend the unity of Egyptian land.”

Head of the Engineers Syndicate Tarek al-Nabarawy said last Friday that in his personal opinion the islands are Egyptian, adding that the syndicate should not be involved in politics.

Akram Ismail, member of the Engineers Syndicate and the Bread and Freedom Party told Mada Masr: “Major national causes cannot be separated from syndicate work,” adding that syndicates, parties and social media are the only remaining platforms for political action following the crackdown on the street movement and blocking of websites.

Ismail said that the fact that three leading figures in the syndicate expressed their opposition to the agreement on their personal Facebook pages indicates the syndicate’s position, even if no official statement was made.

Members of the Cinema Syndicate also released a statement inviting people to protest the transfer of the islands “using all peaceful and legal means.”

They called for a protest at their headquarters on Saturday to oppose the agreement, however the protest was canceled due to the heavy security presence in the area.

Six members of the Doctors Syndicate board also announced their opposition to the agreement in a statement. However Mona Mina, the syndicate’s secretary general, wrote on her Facebook page: “As a vocational institution, the syndicate has nothing to do with this important political and national cause.”

Members of the Lawyers Syndicate also held a protest inside syndicate headquarters on Tuesday to express their objection.

Since discussions of the maritime border agreement reached Parliament, security forces have carried out an extensive arrest campaign across several governorates, targeting activists and protesters opposing the deal.

At least 60 opponents arrested in connection to Tiran & Sanafir handover

Mada Masr
Rights Monitor: Police have arrested 60 opponents of the Tiran and Sanafir agreement 

Friday, 16 June 2017

Police have arrested a total of 60 people connected to political action against the agreement to concede sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia, according to the Freedom for the Brave campaign.

The nationwide arrests commenced after Parliament approved the agreement on Wednesday night, with police moving to detain political activists and party members in Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta, Sharqiya, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Luxor, Port Said and Suez.

Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Aziz told Mada Masr that those arrested come from several political parties, including the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Constitution Party, the Bread and Freedom Party, the Popular Current Party and the Karama Party, as well as from Egypt’s independent activist community, all of whom voiced their opposition to the agreement.

According to Abdel Aziz, security forces arrested many of the activists and party members from their homes, including Hassan Ahwany who is being questioned by the Dokki prosecution in Cairo and is being represented by Abdel Aziz.

Many of those arrested will be questioned by prosecutors on Friday, including six people who were arrested in Port Said and Tanta, according to the Front to Defend Egyptian Protesters.

The FDEP has added that activists Mahmoud Nagib and Israa Fahid face charges of incitement to protest and obstructing public transportation, and that three people arrested in Luxor on Thursday are in the National Security Agency’s custody. In Ismailia, Constitution Party member Ahmed Santos was questioned by the prosecutor, who has issued Santos a 15-day detention order pending an NSA report.

According to lawyer Abdel Aziz Yousef, the prosecutor issued Egyptian Social Democratic Party member Islam Marei a 15-day detention order pending investigation into charges of incitement against the regime; insulting state institutions, including the Armed Forces, police and the judiciary; distributing anti-government flyers; and using social networks for incitement against state institutions.

Abdel Aziz described the arrests as “ferocious,” saying security forces are attempting to prevent any mobilization against the Tiran and Sanafir agreement. The scope of the arrests, he asserted, is disproportionate to the protests that have taken place in reaction to the agreement.

Police arrested eight people in the proximity of the Journalists Syndicate’s headquarters in downtown Cairo on Wednesday night, which was the site of a protest against the Tiran and Sanafir agreement. All eight were released yesterday on LE10,000 bail.

Police also dispersed a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party’s headquarters in downtown Cairo, barricading the protesters inside the building, according party member Ziad al-Eleimi.

"Sisi is a Traitor" - Top trending hashtag in Egypt, following handover of Tiran & Sanafir islands to KSA

EFE News
“Al-Sisi is a Traitor” Tops Twitter’s Trending Hashtags in Egypt
 


Wednesday, 14 June 2017

CAIRO – The hashtag “Al-Sisi is a traitor,” referring to the Egyptian president, topped on Wednesday the trending hashtags on Twitter in Egypt.

This comes amid controversy over the transfer of ownership of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, discussed by parliament since Sunday and approved on Wednesday.

According to official rhetoric, dismissed by many Egyptians, the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located at the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba, have always belonged to Saudi Arabia, and Egypt only administered them at the request of the kingdom.

Based on this, both countries signed an agreement in April 2016 for the “return” of both islands to Saudi Arabia, sparking huge protests in the country.

The controversy, which ended in court with a ruling against the treaty issued by the Supreme Administrative Court, has resurfaced after parliament began on Sunday discussions prior to the ratification of the agreement.

The parliamentary committee gave validity on Tuesday to the pact and sent it to the Legislative Assembly which, in turn, sent it to the national defense and security commission, which should review it before it is voted on in general session by all legislators, who have approved the agreement with a two-thirds majority.

Several representatives from political parties gathered on Tuesday at the Journalists Syndicate to object the decision taken by the commission as part of a campaign of protest called by activists and minority parties on social networks.

Journalist and activist Khaled Balshi denounced on Wednesday to EFE the arrest on Tuesday night of eight people from the Syndicate building, although he confirmed they were released hours later.

The hashtag “Al-Sisi is a traitor” climbed to the top after two days when the hashtag “Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian” occupied the same place, and is now in second place.

Traitor Sisi handing over Tiran & Sanafir islands to his Saudi master

*Artwork by Carlos Latuff

Activists & journalists arrested in protest over handover of Egypt islands to KSA

AFP
Egypt approves transfer of islands to Saudi Arabia

Wednesday, 14 June 2017

CAIRO - Egypt's parliament approved on Wednesday a controversial maritime agreement with Saudi Arabia that transferred two Red Sea islands to the kingdom.

The deal, which was being challenged in court, had sparked rare protests in the country, with the opposition accusing the government of selling Egyptian territory to its Saudi benefactors.

The vote came after days of heated debate in Parliament, with opponents even interrupting one committee session with chanting.

Courts had initially struck down the agreement, signed in April 2016, but a year later another court upheld it.

Lawyers were now challenging the deal before the constitutional court.

The accord sparked rare protests in Egypt last year, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi accused of having traded the islands of Tiran and Sanafir for Saudi largesse.

The government said the islands were Saudi to begin with, but were leased to Egypt in the 1950s.
Opponents of the agreement insisted that Tiran and Sanafir were Egyptian.

On Tuesday evening, dozens of journalists protested against the agreement in central Cairo, before being dispersed by police, journalists' union official Gamal Abdel Rehim said.

Several were briefly arrested before being released, but "three reporters are still detained, and contacts are being made with the interior ministry to get them released," he said.

*Photo by Mohamed El-Raai, courtesy of AFP

Two Red Sea islands are Egyptian, not Saudi territories: Court issues final ruling

Mada Masr
Final court ruling declares Egyptian sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir islands

Monday January 16, 2017

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) issued a final ruling on Monday confirming Egypt’s sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, stating that the Egyptian government has not provided adequate evidence supporting Saudi Arabia’s claim to the land. According to the ruling, therefore, the executive branch of Egypt’s government does not have the administrative authority to cede the territory to Saudi Arabia.

Judge Ahmed al-Shazly, the vice president of the State Council, announced in court that “the Egyptian military was not an occupying force and the sovereignty of Egypt over Tiran and Sanafir is irrevocable,” in response to the Egyptian government’s claims that the uninhabited islands are Saudi Arabian territory but have been administered by Egypt since the 1950s upon the request of the Gulf monarchy.

In April, a lawsuit was filed in the Court of Administrative Justice (CAJ) to challenge the controversial agreement signed by Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohamed bin Salman during King Salman bin Abdel Aziz’s April 2016 visit to Cairo.

The CAJ ruled in June that Prime Minister Sherif Ismail violated the Constitution by signing the agreement and nullified his signature — the court could not rule on the legitimacy of the agreement itself, however, as international agreements fall outside of its jurisdiction.

The government challenged this ruling on several fronts: appealing the decision, filing a request for injunction to stay its implementation, preemptively submitting the deal to Parliament and attempting to circumvent and challenge judicial jurisdiction.

In November, the CAJ approved the request to force the state to implement the annulment of Ismail’s signature and denied the state’s counter-motion.

The report by the State Commissioners Authority on the case, an influence on today’s ruling, recommended that the SAC reject the government’s appeal, stating that “the treaty in question, which will result in giving up sovereignty of Egyptian land, is null and void as the party that signed it violated the Constitution.”

In a press conference following the ruling, prominent rights lawyer Khaled Ali — a member of the legal team who filed the case against the government — stated that Parliament cannot discuss a document nullified by the SAC, warning that if Parliament insists on pursuing this course of action, then it can be held legally accountable.

Ali read out the final paragraph of the ruling to the applause from the audience, saying the ruling would not have been possible without the support of the Egyptian people.

While Monday’s ruling was the final verdict in the appellate process within the State Council regarding the agreement, the state filed a separate appeal in August before the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) claiming the State Council has no jurisdiction over international agreements. This appeal remains pending, having been adjourned to February 12.

Opposition to the border deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has led to the biggest protest movement since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in June 2014, in which a large number of demonstrators have been arrested on charges of illegal protest.

Others have been prosecuted on charges of disseminating false information after publicly stating that the two islands are Egyptian, including prominent rights lawyer Malek Adly and journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka.



*Photo by Heba Afify

Free the jailed members of satirical YouTube group

Human Rights Watch 

Egypt: Free Satirical YouTube Group

Video Performers Who Mocked Government Risk Terrorism Charges 

June 23, 2016

Egyptian authorities should drop their investigation into six young men who posted satirical videos commenting on Egypt’s politics on YouTube and release four of them, who have been detained since May 10, 2016. The investigation appears to be based purely on their satirical videos and violates the right to free speech.

Prosecutors are investigating the men, of a group called Street Children, after the Interior Ministry’s National Security Agency alleged that they are “instigators against the ruling regime” who plotted to use “the internet, social media sites and YouTube” to spread video clips that would undermine the country’s stability by inciting citizens to protest. Prosecutors also investigated the four men in custody about terrorism-related accusations. On June 20, the East Cairo Public Prosecution Office sent the case to the Supreme State Security Prosecution, saying it was out of its jurisdiction.

“Egypt under Sisi is losing its legendary sense of humor when it locks up young men for making satirical videos,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “This kind of blanket repression leaves young people with few outlets to express themselves or joke about their daily hardships.”

Security forces arrested Ezz al-Din Khaled, 19, the group’s youngest member, on May 8. A judge released him on bail of 10,000 L.E (US$1,125) on May 10, after prosecutors charged him with inciting protests and using online platforms to insult state institutions. Security forces arrested Mohamed Dessouky, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Gabr, and Mohamed Yehia on May 10 and are holding them in Cairo’s Heliopolis Police Station on suspicion of the same charges. Prosecutors most recently renewed their 15-day detention order pending investigations on June 18.

Under international law, a judge, not a prosecutor, should promptly review any arrest. However, Egyptian law allows extended periods of pretrial detention without judges’ orders. The sixth member of the group, Mostafa Zein, is under investigation but has not been arrested.

The week before the arrests, Street Children released a satirical music video in which they mocked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and called on him to leave office.

Their lawyer, Mahmoud Othman, of the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, an Egyptian human rights group, told Human Rights Watch that East Cairo district prosecutors have interrogated the four detained men about additional accusations. They include establishing a group that calls for resisting the authorities, disseminating false news to undermine public order, and inciting to overthrow the “ruling regime.”

These accusations, under penal code articles 171 and 174, carry possible 5-year prison sentences. The lawyer said that prosecutors also threatened to use terrorism charges, including articles 86 and 86 bis, which might lead to much longer sentences.

Prosecution reports reviewed by Human Rights Watch showed that prosecutors are relying heavily on a two-page National Security Agency report on Street Children, written by Major Ahmed Abd al-Rahman on May 6. The report, reviewed by Human Rights Watch, cites “trusted confidential sources” who identified the group as “instigators” who “distort the words of some national songs and replace them with verbal abuse against the state.”

As is often the case in National Security reports, Major Abd al-Rahman did not describe the sources, and prosecutors have not questioned the officer further, said Othman, the lawyer. Based on the memo, the Supreme State Security Prosecution granted National Security officers a warrant to raid and inspect the men’s houses and arrest them.

The prosecution reports also showed that prosecutors questioned the four men about “indirectly” inciting “terrorist crimes” and indirectly disseminating terrorist thoughts by participating in videos that contained terrorist ideas.

The six members of the group, most in their 20s, met at a theater workshop and decided to move their performances to the street to make them more accessible to people who cannot afford the theater, one of their project coordinators told Human Rights Watch. In January, they began posting their selfie-style videos, in which they sing about topics including the Muslim Brotherhood, religious preachers, the value of the Egyptian pound and the decision to cede two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, and have attracted more than 1.1 million views on their YouTube Channel.

The group is also facing possible accusations of contempt of religion, which prosecutors have used more often in recent months and which led to 5-year prison sentences in absentia for four children in February because of their involvement in a short YouTube video mocking the extremist group Islamic State.

Reports in local newspapers stated that the Alexandria Minor Offenses Prosecution began separate investigations of Street Children based on a report, filed by lawyer Tarek Mahmoud, that accused the group of insulting Islam in their videos. Othman, the group’s lawyer, said that no one has been interrogated on this accusation yet.

Following the arrest of the four group members, journalists, professors, and other public figures began an online petition calling for the four men’s unconditional release and “free rein to freedom of opinion, imagination, and satire.”

Al-Sisi’s government severely restricts expression. Authorities have arrested and prosecuted dozens of journalists and confiscated journalistic material, according to a 2015 report by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression. In late January, security officials briefly arrested a cartoonist, Islam Gawish, for his satirical comics that criticized the presidency and government policies.

Asked about the government’s troubled relationship with youth activists, al-Sisi admitted during a televised interview on June 3 that state institutions, including the presidency, had failed to create mechanisms to effectively communicate with youth.


The investigations against the Street Children violate international human rights laws. The resolution on the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2002 prohibits arbitrary interference by governments in freedom of expression.

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a party, guarantees freedom of expression and opinion. Limitations are permissible only when they are stated clearly by law and are necessary to protect the rights or reputation of others or national security, public order, public health, or morals.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the covenant, stressed that “the mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties” and that “all public figures, including those exercising the highest political authority such as heads of state and government, are legitimately subject to criticism and political opposition.”

“Egypt’s youth have been a driving force for change since the 2011 uprising,” Houry said. “Upholding human rights and free speech is the best way for al-Sisi to begin to repair the government’s relationship with them.”

Court annuls Egypt's handover of 2 islands to KSA

Reuters
Egyptian court annuls deal to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

Jun 21, 2016


Haitham Ahmed 

An Egyptian court on Tuesday annulled a maritime border accord with Saudi Arabia that would have seen Egypt lose control of two Red Sea islands, in a setback for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The maritime demarcation accord, announced in April, caused public uproar and prompted rare protests in Egypt where many people say they were taught at school that Tiran and Sanafir were Egyptian.

The timing of the announcement, during a visit to Cairo by the Saudi king that coincided with the signing of aid deals, created the impression among many that the islands were sold.

As anger rose, Sisi made an impromptu speech denying the islands were sold and urging Egyptians to end the debate. But a group of lawyers, including former presidential candidate Khaled Ali, challenged the agreement in court.

On Tuesday, Judge Yehia al-Dakroury ruled that Egyptian sovereignty over the islands holds and could not be amended in favour of another state.

Tiran and Sanafir lie between Saudi Arabia and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula at the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba leading to Jordan and Israel.

Saudi and Egyptian officials say they belong to the kingdom and were only under Egyptian control because Saudi Arabia asked Egypt in 1950 to protect them.

Ali argued that according to a 1906 maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, the islands are Egyptian. The treaty precedes the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

The government said it would appeal the verdict.

"The government is studying the reasons for the ruling and will ... challenge it at the higher administrative court of the State Council and request that ... it be cancelled," Magdy al-Agaty, minister of legal and parliamentary affairs, said.

The demarcation agreement was also due to be discussed by parliament in the coming weeks. Two parliamentarians said the debate would go ahead and take into account the verdict.

It was not clear whether the government could activate the accord if parliament approved it but the higher administrative court did not.

Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

But a sharp drop in oil prices and differences over foreign policy issues such as the war in Yemen have raised questions over whether strong Gulf Arab support can be sustained.

Egyptians are eager for economic revival after years of political upheaval. But the islands issue hurt national pride, prompting thousands of protesters to take to the streets in April chanting "people want the fall of the regime", a slogan from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

More than 200 people were arrested in connection with protests over the islands. At least 85 have since been acquitted but more than 150 have been handed jail sentences or fines, judicial sources said.


*Photo by Amr Dalsh courtesy of Reuters 
*Reporting by Haitham Ahmed; writing by Amina Ismail

Journalists stage protests over police raid on syndicate, arrest of colleagues

Associated Press 
Egypt journalists stage protest over police raid at union
  
May 2, 2016

Brian Rohan

Egypt’s journalists’ syndicate called for the dismissal of the interior minister and an immediate sit-in at its headquarters in downtown Cairo on Monday, to protest the police detention of two journalists on its premises the night earlier.

After an emergency meeting early Monday morning, the group called for the “open-ended” sit-in to run through a Wednesday general assembly meeting and World Press Freedom day on May 3.

It described the police’s entry into the building as a “raid by security forces whose blatant barbarism and aggression on the dignity of the press and journalists and their syndicate has surprised the journalistic community and the Egyptian people.” 

Some senior syndicate members have said the raid was heavy-handed, involving dozens of officers and resulted in a security guard being injured.

Police denied they entered the building by force and said only eight officers were involved, who they said were acting on an arrest warrant for the two journalists — who were accused of organizing protests to destabilize the country. Unauthorized demonstrations in Egypt are effectively banned.

“The Ministry of Interior affirms that it did not raid the syndicate or use any kind of force in arresting the two, who turned themselves in as soon as they were told of the arrest warrant,” the ministry said in a statement.
 
The two journalists, Amr Badr and Mahmoud el-Sakka, are government critics who work for a website known as January Gate, also critical of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government.
 
It was unclear what size any sit-in at the syndicate could achieve; the area surrounding the building has been barricaded by police and dozens of officers backed by armed troops have been preventing entry at both ends of the street. Hundreds of undercover police have been deployed across central Cairo in order to prevent any protests.
 
A day earlier, police prevented hundreds of workers from holding a meeting at the building to commemorate International Workers’ Day, prompting independent trade union leaders to urge the government to allow them freedom of assembly.
 
The syndicate has invited the trade union leaders to join the sit-in to denounce the “raid” and protest restrictions on freedom of assembly for labor organizers. It said the move was illegal and violated its charter, which forbids police from entering the building without the presence of a syndicate official, and is urging police to end their “siege” of the building and stop preventing journalists from entering.

 
The journalists’ syndicate has been a rallying point for demonstrations in the past, and was blocked in a similar manner ahead of planned anti-government protests last Monday.
 
The building drew particular attention because it was from there that some 2,000 demonstrators gathered last month to protest el-Sissi’s decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens to break up the protests, the first significant wave of street demonstrations since the former army chief became president in 2014.
 
A second round of mass demonstrations over the issue planned for last Monday were stifled by a massive security presence, with hundreds of arrests and only small flash mobs managing to assemble, drawing tear gas and birdshot from the riot police.


*Photo by Khaled El-Fiqi, courtesy of EPA

Police raid Journalists' Syndicate, arrest 2 journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists
Egypt police raid Journalists' Syndicate, arrest two journalists

May 2, 2016

Egyptian authorities should immediately release Amr Badr, Mahmoud al-Sakka, and all journalists jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Police on Sunday raided the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, where the two were staging a sit-in protest, and arrested them, according to their employer and news reports. Today prosecutors ordered the journalists detained for 15 days of investigation on charges of "spreading false news," "endangering national security," and "organizing illegal protests," according to news reports.

Badr, the editor of the news website Yanair, which is often critical of the government, and al-Sakka, another editor for the website, had taken refuge inside the Journalists' Syndicate on Saturday and were staging a sit-in protest. About 50 policemen in civilian clothes stormed the syndicate Sunday night, assaulted its private security officers, and broke furniture in the lobby, while arresting the two, Journalists' Syndicate President Yehia Qallash told CBC TV.

Qallash called the raid "unprecedented" and "illegal," and called on Minister of Interior Magdal Abdel Ghaffar to resign.

"Authorities in Egypt are abandoning all restraint in their efforts to intimidate and silence the press," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said from Washington.

"Egypt's government should open an immediate investigation into this violent raid, immediately release Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka, and stop persecuting journalists for doing their jobs."

In a statement published on its Facebook page today, the Interior Ministry denied using any kind of force in the arrest, saying the journalists peacefully turned themselves in to eight police officers at the syndicate, and that that police had followed the law in implementing an arrest warrant.

In a statement published on Yanair today, Badr said, via his lawyers, that authorities were targeting him and al-Sakka for their criticism of the government, including its recent decision to give Saudi Arabia control of two Red Sea islands. According to news reports, the two had been hiding, fearing arrest, since at least April 22, when police raided their homes before dawn.

Al-Sakka had previously been arrested in December 2015, on charges of belonging to an illegal group and planning illegal protests on the fifth anniversary of the January 25, 2011, uprising that led former President Hosni Mubarak to resign. Authorities ordered al-Sakka released in March, according to reports.

His arrest on Sunday follows revived protests, in which dozens of journalists have been detained, according to CPJ research. On Thursday journalists marched to the general prosecutor's office in central Cairo to protest the escalated crackdown on the press. Journalists gathered again today to protest the storming of the syndicate and the arrest of their colleagues, according to media reports.

Egypt was the second worst jailer of journalists worldwide on December 1, 2015, according to CPJ's prison census.


*Photo by Mohammed Abdel Ghany, courtesy of REUTERS

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Reporters Without Borders/RSF 
RSF condemns arrests during police raid on Journalists’ Syndicate

May 3, 2016

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the police raid on the Cairo headquarters of the Journalists’ Syndicate on 1 May and calls for the immediate release of the two journalists who were unjustly detained in the operation.

The raid reinforced the climate of terror for media personnel in Egypt on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, which is celebrated today.

Journalists’ Syndicate president Yahia Qallash said around 50 plainclothes policemen stormed into the syndicate’s headquarters on the evening of 1 May to arrest the two journalists, who had been staging a sit-in inside in protest against warrants for their arrest and searches of their homes.

They are Amr Badr, the founder and editor-in-chief of the opposition news website Yanair (January), and Mahmoud El-Sakka, a journalist who works for the site.

In response to this “unprecedented” raid on the Journalists’ Syndicate, its members have been protesting inside its headquarters and on social networks to demand the release of the journalists and the interior minister’s resignation.

The NGO Journalists Against Torture has announced a 24-hour strike in solidarity with the Syndicate, which convened a general assembly for tomorrow and announced a permanent sit-in inside until the meeting.

“We condemn this raid on the headquarters of the Journalists’ Syndicate and we call on the authorities to intervene to obtain the immediate release of these journalists and the withdrawal of the charges against them,” said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF’s Middle East desk. “Journalists have no place being in prison, especially when all they did was criticize the government.”

According to the Syndicate’s charter, a member of the prosecutor-general’s office must know and the president of the Syndicate or his representative must be present when the police enter its headquarters.

The interior ministry issued a statement denying that the police stormed the building or that violence was used. It said the two journalists were arrested without use of force, as a result of a decision by the prosecutor’s office and in coordination with the head of security at the Syndicate.

The charges against the two journalists include spreading false rumours about Egypt’s decision to return two small islands, Tiran and Sanafir, to Saudi Arabia and inciting protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government.

The police prevented the holding of a conference inside the Syndicate’s headquarters on 1 May to mark Labour Day. They also prevented many journalists and demonstrators from entering the building on 25 April, when a series of demonstrations throughout Cairo were quickly dispersed and dozens of journalists who had gone to cover them were detained for several hours.

The Journalists’ Syndicate filed a complaint against the interior ministry about the abuses against journalists during the 25 April demonstrations.

Sakka, one of the two journalists arrested on 1 May, was previously arrested on 30 December on various charges including membership of an illegal group. He was released at the start of March pending the outcome of the investigation.

Currently the world’s fourth biggest prison for journalists (after China, Eritrea and Iran), Egypt is ranked 159th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

1,277 detained in protests against Sisi's handover of islands to KSA

Mada Masr
Front states over 1,000 detained in recent demonstrations in Egypt

Friday, April 29, 2016

The Front to Defend Egyptian Protesters published a report on Thursday, documenting 1,277 arrests and detentions between April 15 and 27, the period coinciding with popular mobilizations against Egyptian authorities prompted by the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia.

The list issued by the front documents cases spanning across 22 Egyptian cities wherein 577 individuals have been referred to the prosecution and 619 have been released. The legal status of 81 cases is unclear, according to the front's lawyers.

Those arrested are predominately men and include 52 minors.

Yasser Azzam, who was arrested in Dokki on April 25, was released on Thursday from a Central Security Forces camp. He told Mada Masr that he was kept in a 12-square-meter cell with another 40 inmates. The men were forced to sleep on the floor, as the camp authorities did not provide beds or mattresses.

"We demanded to go to the bathroom, so Central Security Forces came to our cells trying to scare us. But we continued protesting until they let us use the bathroom," Azzam said.

While in detention, Azzam states he was asked about his opinion on "the January 25 revolution, the June 30 events, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the government’s performance."

Fatemah Serag, a lawyer and member of the front, notes that wide ranging suspicion led to the high number of arbitrary arrests from places far from demonstration sites and the subsequent release of 60 percent of those arrested.

Other lawyers have criticized the prosecution’s handling of arrests and referrals to investigation.

Lawyer Yasmine Hossam Eddin told Mada Masr that the prosecution issued "false visit permits" to family members of those arrested on April 15 and that are currently being detained in the Tora prison.

"In the Agouza Police Station [where some protesters have been detained], I saw how prosecutors were screaming at arrested youth as though they were policemen and not investigators," Hossam Eddin said.

Lawyer Ahmad Othman told Mada Masr that prosecutors present at the Agouza Police Station and the Dokki Police Station did not intervene when police officers prevented defense lawyers from attending detainee’s interrogation sessions.

"The prosecution also refused to record how those arrested were held longer than the 24-hour legal period between their arrests and referral to investigation. It also refused to record how arrest warrants were issued after the detainees were in fact arrested...[and] to record the fact that National Security Agency members interrogated those arrested before they were referred to prosecution," Othman stated.

The prosecution has also refused lawyer’s requests to record incidents of torture that occurred in detention centers, lawyer Sameh Samir told Mada Masr. "We don't want the prosecutors to do anything beyond recording these facts in the cases files," he said.

Prosecutors have also often interrogated detainees inside police stations where they have faced torture, a practice contested by lawyers. While it is not illegal to conduct interrogations there, lawyers state that the non-neutral setting is inappropriate for the legal process.

"There is almost an agreement that the prosecution is not a neutral player in human rights cases," says Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression lawyer Hassan al-Azhari.

Azhari called for lawyers to protest the prosecution’s actions by boycotting interrogations in an attempt to showcase the process’s lack of credibility.

During the reign of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, police officers and state security officers were often hired as prosecutors. The practice is widely contended to be the reason for the prosecutor’s lack of independence from the executive branch.

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READ ALSO: 

43 Egyptian & foreign journalists detained/arrested while covering Tiran & Sanafir protests 

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*Photo courtesy of El5abar.com

Largest demonstration since 2013 Coup, protesters demand fall of Sisi for handover of islands to KSA

REUTERS
Protesters demand fall of Egypt's government over islands deal
 
Fri Apr 15, 2016

CAIRO | By Ahmed Aboulenein and Eric Knecht

 

Thousands of Egyptians angered by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's decision to hand over two islands to Saudi Arabia called on Friday for the government to fall, chanting a slogan from the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

Their protests signaled that the former general, who is also under mounting criticism over the struggling economy, no longer enjoys the broad public support that let him round up thousands of opponents after he seized power in 2013.

In the evening, riot police who had surrounded the site of the biggest demonstration, in the heart of downtown Cairo, dispersed the crowd with tear gas, Reuters witnesses said.

Egyptian security forces detained a total of 119 protesters at several demonstrations, according to security officials.

Sisi's government prompted an outcry in Egyptian newspapers and on social media last week when it announced an accord that put the uninhabited Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi waters.

"The people want the downfall of the regime!" protesters cried outside the Cairo press syndicate, using the signature chant of the 2011 revolt against then-president Hosni Mubarak, who later stepped down.

They also chanted: "Sisi - Mubarak", "We don't want you, leave" and "We own the land and you are agents who sold our land." In other parts of Cairo, police fired tear gas at protesters, security sources said.

The U.S. government, which sees Cairo as a critical Middle East ally, will continue to watch carefully the situation in Egypt, the White House said.

Saudi and Egyptian officials say the islands belong to the kingdom across the Red Sea and were only under Egyptian control because Riyadh had asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them.

Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf Arab states showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid and grants after Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, following mass protests against him.

But a sharp drop in oil prices and differences with Cairo over such regional issues as the war in Yemen have raised questions over whether strong Gulf Arab support can be sustained.

MISHANDLED CRISES

Egyptians are eager for an economic revival after years of political upheaval. But the islands issue seems to have hurt their national pride, prompting thousands to return to the streets to confront their leader.

There are no signs that Sisi's rule is under immediate threat. However, even local media, which once suggested he could do no wrong, have been attacking the president.

Critics say the government has mishandled a series of crises, from an investigation into the killing of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, 28, in Cairo, to a bomb that brought down a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula last October.

Torture marks on Regini's body prompted human rights groups to conclude he died at the hands of security forces, which Egypt denies. That revived complaints of police brutality, one of the issues that led Egyptians to challenge Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Sisi has made fighting corruption a top priority. But he drew fire last month after sacking Hesham Geneina, Egypt's top auditor, who had stirred controversy by publicly concluding that state corruption had cost the country billions of dollars.

In a tweet, Geneina described the protests as the "purest, bravest and most noble demonstration of Egyptians" in decades.

Many Egyptians enthusiastically welcomed Sisi when he took over. They turned a blind eye as Islamists and other opponents were rounded up, swelling the number of political prisoners to about 40,000, according to estimates by human rights groups.

PATIENCE WITH SISI FADING

A growing number are now losing patience over corruption, poverty and unemployment, the same issues that led to Mubarak's downfall, while Sisi has appeared increasingly authoritarian in televised speeches.

"We want the downfall of the regime," said Abdelrahman Abdellatif, 29, an air conditioning engineer, at the Cairo protest. "The youth of the revolution are still here ... We are experiencing unprecedented fascism and dictatorship."

There were also Sisi supporters, including a woman wearing a shirt with an image of the former military intelligence chief.

In Alexandria, around 500 people gathered near a railway station. Meanwhile, 300 Sisi supporters holding up photographs of him demonstrated outside a mosque in the port city.

Calls for protests have gathered thousands of supporters on Facebook, including from the outlawed Brotherhood, which accused Sisi of staging a coup when it was ousted and rolling back freedoms won after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protested five years ago in Cairo's Tahrir Square against Mubarak.


*Photos courtesy of Reuters
**Additional reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Ola Noureldin, Ali Abdelaty and Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Larry King