25th January is a symbolic day in Egypt’s calendar. On that day in 2011, the Egyptian revolution or Arab Spring began. Alaa Abdelfattah is an icon of that revolution. Because of his outspoken support for political change, he has been in prison for most of the past decade. You have probably heard of him as his…
Journalist Hisham Fouad has been detained for over two years since being arrested on 25 June 2019. Although the legal limit for ‘pre-trial’ detention in Egypt has now expired he remains in jail, incarcerated in a windowless cell without proper access to medical treatment. Along with former MP Zyad el-Elaimy and journalist Hossam Moanis and…
A message from the socialist activist Hisham Fouad from inside prison announcing his hunger strike which has been ongoing since Saturday 10 July in protest against his continued imprisonment despite having spent more than two years in ‘pre-trial detention’, the maximum period specified in Egyptian law. Hisham was arrested and detained on 25 June 2019. He…
Human rights workers from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights whose arrest and detention on spurious ‘terrorism’ charges sparked a major international campaign were released on 3 December. Leading trade unionists from Britain and Canada were among those who added their voices to the growing pressure on the Egyptian authorities to release the men –…
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…
A vicious homophobic campaign is underway in Egypt following the arrest of seven people alleged to have raised the rainbow flag during a concert in Cairo on 22 September. According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) the crackdown has led to over 50 arrests of people across the country based on their sexuality…
The Egyptian authorities have arrested eleven leading activists in the independent unions over the past week, stepping up pressure on the workers’ movement following the victimisation of textile workers in Mahalla after a major strike in August. Eight independent trade unionists were seized in a series of nation-wide raids on their homes on 16 September,…
Veteran socialist activist Kamal Khalil was arrested this morning from his home, according to a Facebook post from his wife, who shared a picture of their home after security forces had searched it. Kamal is one of many Egyptian activists detained in recent weeks as part of an on-going crackdown which aims to silence critical…
As the Egyptian military regime’s attack on workplace organisers deepens, detained workers in two important cases face court this week. Shipyard workers from Alexandria who have been detained since 24 May after military police stormed the yard and arrested them are due to find out the verdict in their military trial on 18 October. The…
Dozens of prominent lawyers from across Europe are calling for the release of Malek Adly, a prominent human rights lawyer who was arrested on 5 May and remains in detention awaiting trial. The letter highlights the on-going crackdown against lawyers and human rights activists, including labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain and Ahmed Abdallah, legal adviser to…
Egypt Solidarity 