In Italy, the solidarity campaign with Patrick Zaki, a graduate student at University of Bologna, a human rights activist and a socialist has drawn huge support from the Italian public. The Italian senate decided to grant Zaki hnorary citizenship: 204 members voted in favour out of 241 present members with no objection to the decision.…
Members of the German parliament have issued a statement calling for the release of political prisoners in Egypt, highlighting the case of socialist activists Hisham Fouad, Ayman Abdel-Moati, Haitham Mohamedain, Mahienour el-Masri, Khalil Rizk and Patrick Zaki. Signatories include Michel Brandt, Member of Parliament for Die LINKE parliamentary group, Member of the Committee on Human…
Ten years after the Egyptian revolution shook the world, a vicious military regime has detained tens of thousands without trial in dire conditions. This briefing for trade union activists highlights the cases of six socialist activists who are currently detained on spurious charges. They include journalists, a public transport worker, lawyers and a human rights…
Family members and lawyers are growing increasingly concerned for the health of journalist Hisham Fouad, detained on trumped-up charges of “economic conspiracy” in Egypt for that last one and half year. Hisham has been denied medical examinations and treatment for both a pre-existing pathology in his back vertebrae and new health conditions, including digestive and…
Well-known human rights NGO, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) is facing a coordinated assault by the authorities following the arrest and detention of key members of staff last week. Two of those arrested Karim Ennarah, head of EIPR’s Criminal Justice Unit, and administrative director Mohamed Bashir, have been added to a case opened…
Academics whose research and teaching is being leveraged to maximise transnational student revenues and whitewash human rights abuses are speaking out in protest at UK HE senior management’s collusion with the Egyptian regime. Over 200 academics, including many from the University of London, have launched an open letter condemning the crackdown against the regime’s critics…
Leading figures across the trade union movement in Britain have thrown their weight behind a campaign in solidarity with journalist Hisham Fouad and lawyer Haitham Mohamedain who have been detained by Egypt’s military regime on trumped up charges. Trade Union Congress president Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists Michelle Stanistreet…
Almost exactly a year after his arrest in 2018, labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain has been detained again after being wrongfully accused of violating his probation terms after release from prison in October. On 13 May, he was summoned to the police station in Saf, south of Cairo, and detained without access to a lawyer, before…
Six men condemned to death in the Arab Sharkas case have been executed and former President Mohamed Morsi together with 100 others were given death sentences on 16 May. Among those sentenced to death on 16 May is Professor Emad Shahin of the American University in Cairo. As he notes on his website he was…
Via prisoners’ rights group al-Hurriya lil Gadaan. Thanks to Ahdaf Soueif for the translation. Sign the petition on Change.org here (Arabic text of the petition translated below) On 21 October 2014, in case 43/2014 Military Crimes North, known as the “Arab Sharkas” case, a military court sentenced 7 citizens to death and 2 to life…
