The arrest and detention of labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain has sparked solidarity from around the world. A statement signed by dozens of prominent trade unionists, academics and campaigners in the UK was launched by Egypt Solidarity Initiative today. Signatories include Ian Hodson, General Secretary of the bakers union BFAWU, leading labour lawyer John Hendy QC,…
Egyptian prosecutors ordered the detention of labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain for fifteen days, while they investigate serious charges against him. Haitham is one of at least 100 activists seized in a series of security raids aimed at stopping the growing momentum behind protests over the handing over of Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir to…
Egyptian security forces raided cafes in downtown Cairo and took activists from their homes on 22 April in a coordinated crackdown ahead of planned protests on 25 April over the transfer of the Tiran and Sanafir Islands to Saudi Arabia, prisoners’ rights group Freedom for the Brave said in a statement on Facebook. According to…
The Italian ambassador to Egypt, Maurizio Massari, has been recalled to Rome for urgent consultations following the failure of a summit between the Italian and Egyptian teams investigating the torture and murder of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni in Cairo earlier this year. Human rights activists and experts say that the torture Giulio suffered bears…
The international campaign in solidarity with jailed Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji gathered pace this week, with the announcement by PEN America that he will be honoured with the “Freedom to Write” award at the organisation’s annual Literary Gala on May 16. Suzanne Nossel, PEN America’s Executive Director said that Naji’s case was an example of…
The European parliament voted overwhelmingly for a resolution on 10 March condemning the murder of Giulio Regeni and ongoing repression in Egypt. The motion called for a number of measures to be taken against the Egyptian government including the suspension of security cooperation with Egypt and an EU-wide ban on the sale of arms to…
A delegation of UK MPs discussed the murder of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni with Egyptian officials in Cairo on 7 March, UK Ambassador John Casson confirmed. Giulio’s case, and the wider issue of human rights, was noticeably absent from a list of topics Casson asked Twitter users to vote for the previous day. A…
Dozens of detainees as the Aqrab maximum security prison in Egypt were on hunger strike by the beginning of March 2016, according to relatives. The Association of Aqrab Detainees’ Families said in a statement on its Facebook page that prisoners at the jail, notorious for its brutal treatment of inmates, were demanding improved food and…
Over 500 Egyptian writers and artists have signed a statement in solidarity with novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji, who was recently sentenced to 2 years in prison after prosecutors claimed a chapter of his novel published in literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab “offends modesty”. Leading figures from the literary and artistic worlds who have backed the…
Doctors at Al-Matariyya Hospital in Cairo walked out on strike for a week in defence of colleagues who were assaulted by policemen for refusing to write false reports about a patient’s injuries. The strike began after a van of policemen arrived at the hospital on 28 January, Doctor’s Union secretary-general Mona Mina told Egyptian news…
Egypt Solidarity 