Kafka meets Orwell in Egypt’s surreal brave new world, where a like, share or post on Facebook may land you behind bars for “supporting terrorism” or “insulting the regime.” We present five case studies.
“The dark times for those fighting for human rights, freedom of
speech and democratic reform are about to get darker, but today
a little justice was done to Jamal …”
Within these days witnessing the continuous escalation between Erdogan and Macron, suddenly you’re afraid of being killed, when you had fled thousands of kilometers away, only to meet them here again as sleeper cells, ready to raise knives and swords to cut any neck.
The Muslim world’s clash with freedom of expression is long and problematic. The campaign currently spread under the slogan “Anything But God’s Prophet” appears to be another addition to the unnecessary clash between Islam and freedom of expression.
When imprisoned in a “reserve prison”, you are not given a specific timeframe for your release, and successive renewals of your stay there may take place indefinitely. This type of prison in Egypt, is often called the ‘Forgotten Prison’, the same one in which Shadi Habash died a few months ago, after he realized that he had too, been forgotten.
The increasing censorship, which includes omitting scenes from dramas, totally prohibiting broadcasting them, or even excluding opposition actors from acting, has produced a weak Syrian Ramadan season.
In this investigation, we narrate the stories of the arrests of a group of citizens and activists in the recent period, which came about as a result of their expressing of opposition against the policies of the state.