How Egypt's millitary stole the freedom of the Nation | World News

[Mahfuz1995]

Would love to know what you guys think of the recent shenanigans taking place is Egypt.

https://youtu.be/zrWDotjtNdI

Feel free to leave your comments, disagreements, agreements etc etc.

Jazakllahu khair :)

[Misbah-Abd]

There is no such thing as "freedom and Democracy". It is a beautifully worded illusion of freedom. Just because you walk into a voting booth doesn't mean you have a say of what is going on. All candidates have to play the tune of the Global Elite. There is that saying, "none are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."

[Mahfuz1995]

To be honest akhi, I very much agree. But I only called it "freedom" because compared to what they have now, they were better off being able to vote. It's not the best system, but it's more freedom than military rule.

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Related, like to share

Letter from Cairo

Theres nothing like election season in Cairo. All over the city lamp-posts flutter with campaign banners, each displaying the awkward smile of our president, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Just as surprising as the lack of campaigns for any rival is the fact that Sisi himself is not techinically on the ballot yet. With just two months until polling day, he is yet to announce his intention to run, saying only: ‘If the Egyptian people want me to run again, I will do it’.

Luckily for him, it seems thats exactly what they want. Since last year, a grassroots campaign ‘So you can build it’ (‘it’ being Egypt), has been trying to persuade the president to put his name on the ballot through a nationwide petition. This has galvanised almost everyone, with a church insider telling the Eye that at least on bishop received a stack of petitions for his congregation from the national security force, showing how far this grass roots campaign has spread.

Rival campaigns have garnered less support. Last November, former prime minster Ahmed Shafik announced his intentions to run from his home-away-from-home, in exile in Abu Dhabi. But after being arrested by the Emiratis, extradited to Egypt and holed up in the New Cairo Marriott under heavy guard, he told his Twitter followers earlier this month that he had changed his mind.

Colonel Ahmed Konsowa also threw his hat in the ring last year, with a video posted online in which the 41 year old addressed the camera in army fatigues. He was promptly arrested for breaking Egypts constitution by ‘harming the requirements of the military’ by talking politics in uniform; the separation of civil and military institutions is sacrosanct under Sisi.

The Muslims Brotherhood of course, cannot participate. But the past week has seen three potential presidents declare their intention to run. They include human rights activist and previous presidential candidate Khaled Ali, representing the ‘Bread and Freedom’ party, which takes its name from an Arab Spring revolutionary slogan.

A question mark hangs over his campaign, however, due to an incident outside a Cairo courthouse, in which Ali allegedly gave the court the finger – which he denies. For this, Ali is facing charges of ‘offending public decency’, which may preclude him from participating in the democratic process.

Another new contender is Mortada Mansour, Egypts answer to Donald Trump. The president of the countrys number two football club, Zamalek SC, the businessman is well known for his erratic outbursts and for a long running feud with Zamalek fans ‘The ultra White Knights’, whom he calls ‘terrorists’. In a TV interview last week, he announced that his first move as president would be ‘to ban facebook’.

One could accuse Mansour of neglecting more crucial issues. Since 2014, our country has seen multiple terrorist attacks, including the two worst in Egyptian history. Inflation is at 20%; the Egyptian pound is worth half what it was four years ago; and the cost of living for everyday Egyptians has sky-rocketed.

And thats just what life is like on the outside. Rights groups say 60000 political prisoners languish in Egypts jails – a six fold increase on the Mubarak regime at its peak. Human Rights Watch wrote in September that the state uses ‘widespread arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture’ against anyone who opposes it. The HRW website has since been blocked in Egypt.

Despite all this, and the fact he’s not even on the ballot yet, there is little doubt Sisi will have no problem walking into office for a second term. He proved his campaign credentials last election, when he won with 97 percent of the vote. So successful was this landslide that this time around it seems he doesn’t even need to campaign. And to think, this man who just four years ago suggested Egypt was ‘not ready for democracy’. How far we’ve come.

Private Eye issue 1462

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[Misbah-Abd]

So this is the Democracy in Egypt. Ban groups that you don't like and then come off as giving the people a "choice" in the political direction. And as far as the West is concerned, they turned a blind eye when Sisi overthrew the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood. Nothing but hypocrisy. The U.S. and its lackeys only preach the "freedom and Democracy" when it suits their interests. And as for the Egyptian people, your rulers are only a mirror of yourselves. Watch this short clip to understand how Allah Azza wa Jal gives people the leaders it deserves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5nPIP1m5c

[Mahfuz1995]

So this is the Democracy in Egypt. Ban groups that you don't like and then come off as giving the people a "choice" in the political direction. And as far as the West is concerned, they turned a blind eye when Sisi overthrew the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood. Nothing but hypocrisy. The U.S. and its lackeys only preach the "freedom and Democracy" when it suits their interests. And as for the Egyptian people, your rulers are only a mirror of yourselves. Watch this short clip to understand how Allah Azza wa Jal gives people the leaders it deserves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5nPIP1m5c

Yep, exactly. Democracy only when it serves their interests. I think rather than be angry about it, I've decided to just try and build a channel on YouTube so I can INFORM about it. When the state of the Ummah is one where the Muslims know their purpose in life (to please Allah), and self educate, we will all be more successful, not just the Egyptians, inshaAllah. May Allah guide us all to goodness.

- - - Updated - - -

Salaam

Related, like to share

Letter from Cairo

Theres nothing like election season in Cairo. All over the city lamp-posts flutter with campaign banners, each displaying the awkward smile of our president, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Just as surprising as the lack of campaigns for any rival is the fact that Sisi himself is not techinically on the ballot yet. With just two months until polling day, he is yet to announce his intention to run, saying only: ‘If the Egyptian people want me to run again, I will do it’.

Luckily for him, it seems thats exactly what they want. Since last year, a grassroots campaign ‘So you can build it’ (‘it’ being Egypt), has been trying to persuade the president to put his name on the ballot through a nationwide petition. This has galvanised almost everyone, with a church insider telling the Eye that at least on bishop received a stack of petitions for his congregation from the national security force, showing how far this grass roots campaign has spread.

Rival campaigns have garnered less support. Last November, former prime minster Ahmed Shafik announced his intentions to run from his home-away-from-home, in exile in Abu Dhabi. But after being arrested by the Emiratis, extradited to Egypt and holed up in the New Cairo Marriott under heavy guard, he told his Twitter followers earlier this month that he had changed his mind.

Colonel Ahmed Konsowa also threw his hat in the ring last year, with a video posted online in which the 41 year old addressed the camera in army fatigues. He was promptly arrested for breaking Egypts constitution by ‘harming the requirements of the military’ by talking politics in uniform; the separation of civil and military institutions is sacrosanct under Sisi.

The Muslims Brotherhood of course, cannot participate. But the past week has seen three potential presidents declare their intention to run. They include human rights activist and previous presidential candidate Khaled Ali, representing the ‘Bread and Freedom’ party, which takes its name from an Arab Spring revolutionary slogan.

A question mark hangs over his campaign, however, due to an incident outside a Cairo courthouse, in which Ali allegedly gave the court the finger – which he denies. For this, Ali is facing charges of ‘offending public decency’, which may preclude him from participating in the democratic process.

Another new contender is Mortada Mansour, Egypts answer to Donald Trump. The president of the countrys number two football club, Zamalek SC, the businessman is well known for his erratic outbursts and for a long running feud with Zamalek fans ‘The ultra White Knights’, whom he calls ‘terrorists’. In a TV interview last week, he announced that his first move as president would be ‘to ban facebook’.

One could accuse Mansour of neglecting more crucial issues. Since 2014, our country has seen multiple terrorist attacks, including the two worst in Egyptian history. Inflation is at 20%; the Egyptian pound is worth half what it was four years ago; and the cost of living for everyday Egyptians has sky-rocketed.

And thats just what life is like on the outside. Rights groups say 60000 political prisoners languish in Egypts jails – a six fold increase on the Mubarak regime at its peak. Human Rights Watch wrote in September that the state uses ‘widespread arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture’ against anyone who opposes it. The HRW website has since been blocked in Egypt.

Despite all this, and the fact he’s not even on the ballot yet, there is little doubt Sisi will have no problem walking into office for a second term. He proved his campaign credentials last election, when he won with 97 percent of the vote. So successful was this landslide that this time around it seems he doesn’t even need to campaign. And to think, this man who just four years ago suggested Egypt was ‘not ready for democracy’. How far we’ve come.

Private Eye issue 1462

SubhanAllah. What an insightful piece. Indeed it only reinforces what we all know sadly: Democracy in Egypt is just a facade, a sort of formality behind which lies a simple dictatorship that will spend the wealth of Egypt, a rich and prosperous nation, on a small group of elites who do as they wish. May Allah guide us all to good, and honour this Ummah with the best of leaders, like those that came before us.

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Morsi facing early death in inhuman prison conditions, British MPs say
#EgyptTurmoil

Panel calls treatment of former Egyptian president 'cruel, inhuman and degrading' and says Sisi could be held liable for torture

Mohamed Morsi is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, sleeps on a cement floor, and has been permitted to see his family once in the past three years, a panel of British parliamentarians and international lawyers has found. The former Egyptian president may die prematurely as a result of inadequate medical treatment, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi could be held liable for his treatment under international law, according to the panel.

"We find that the conditions of Dr Morsi's detention would be of such continuing interest to the whole chain of command that the current president could, in principle, be responsible for the crime of torture," they said.

The panel, led by MP Crispin Blunt, released its findings on Wednesday after it was commissioned by Morsi's family - through London-based law firm ITN Solicitors - to investigate the conditions in which the 67-year-old is being held. The panel asked to visit Morsi in Tora Prison and assess his situation first-hand earlier this month, but the Egyptian government has not responded.

"We draw an inference that the Egyptian government do not wish for independent oversight of Dr Morsi's detention," the report said.

A former warden at the maximum security prison, nicknamed Scorpion, said in 2012 that the complex had been designed "so that those who go in don't come out again, unless dead".

"We would have rather hoped that the revolution would have addressed that," Blunt said. "I think the evidence is that it hasn't. President Sisi ought to."

With his re-election expected this week, Blunt said it could be a chance, however unlikely, for the president to "heal the divisions in Egypt" through addressing the prison conditions of Morsi and others.

"If the Egyptian authorities want to avoid the undoubted difficulties of him dying in custody, and it would appear a pretty serious case of neglect, then it’s an opportunity for them," he said.

'Cruel, inhuman and degrading'

Based on the testimonies of Morsi's family and others informed of his condition, the panel has called his treatment "cruel, inhuman and degrading" and said it could "meet the threshold for torture in accordance Egyptian and international law". Without urgent medical assistance, the damage to his health "may be permanent and possibly terminal", according to the report.

"The consequence of this inadequate care is likely to be rapid deterioration of his long‐term conditions, which is likely to lead to premature death."

Morsi is only served canned food, which is sometimes rotten, and is now suffering from deteriorating liver and kidney function potentially as a result of malnutrition, according to the panel. He has suffered from diabetic coma and is losing vision in his left eye due to a lack of insulin, injuries to the neck and spine as a result of sleeping on a cement floor, abscesses in his jaws and conjunctivitis, reports say. His son, Abdullah Morsi, told the panel that a doctor examined his father six months ago, but only had a stethoscope and blood pressure monitor. Further examinations and treatments have not been offered.

"The doctor in the prison is a general practitioner appointed by the state," Abdullah Morsi told the panel. "My father requires an assessment by a radiologist, blood tests, a physiotherapist and an ophthalmologist."

His family has expressed fears that this denial of treatment may be purposeful.

Tayyab Ali, a partner at ITN solicitors, said its likely that the report will be sent to the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union to join a growing body of evidence about what is happening at Scorpion Prison.

"At some point, the various criminal acts that have occured in Egypt will need to be address in some sort of forum," Ali said.

The panel, Ali added, have offered to write a second report if the Egyptian government grants them access to Morsi. The country's first democratically elected president and a member of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi has been held in prison since July 2013 coup by the Egyptian military. Since then, he has been sentenced to death by hanging and a total of 48 years in prison for various charges, including killing protesters, insulting the judiciary and collaborating with Hamas and Hezbollah.

His death sentences have been overturned, but appeals that could reimpose them are pending. The Egyptian embassy in London has been contacted for comment.

Morsi is also reported to be suffering from conditions linked to his diabetes and high blood pressure and reports indicate his health has deteriorated since his incarceration.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/morsi-may-die-prison-result-inadequate-care-british-mps-find-862956997

[Misbah-Abd]

So where's the uproar from the International Community on how this democratically elected ousted leader is being treated? Like I said, nothing but hypocrisy. The West talks about "Freedom and Democracy" only when it suits them.

[سيف الله]

Salaam

So where's the uproar from the International Community on how this democratically elected ousted leader is being treated? Like I said, nothing but hypocrisy. The West talks about "Freedom and Democracy" only when it suits them.

History has shown its always been this way, after all they did sponsor his overthrow (then shed crocodile tears afterwards)

[سيف الله]

Salaam

What a surprise!

Sisi wins second term as Egyptian president after purge of challengers

Early results show Abdel Fatah al-Sisi taking 92%, with his five main rivals barred from ballot paper

Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second term after an election campaign in which five of his potential challengers were prevented from getting on the ballot.

Preliminary results showed that Sisi won about 92% of the vote, with turnout at around 41.5%.

Twenty-five million of the 60 million registered voters turned out during the three days of polling that ended on Wednesday, state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported. Twenty-three million voted for Sisi.

The Akhbar el-Youm newspaper did not report the full turnout but said Sisi won 21.4 million votes.

According to the Al-Ahram newspaper, in addition to 23 million who cast valid votes, 2 million spoiled their ballot papers.

Sisi’s sole challenger was Mousa Mostafa Mousa, who previously declared that he “was not here to challenge the president” and who entered the race at the last minute after five other potential challengers were blocked from getting on the ballot.

Mousa conceded his loss on Wednesday night, telling a TV station he had hoped for 10% of the vote. “But I know the immense popularity of President Sisi,” he said.

Other, more heavyweight would-be challengers were all sidelined, detained or pulled out.

As army chief, Sisi ousted Egypt’s first freely elected president, Islamist Mohamed Morsi, after mass street protests in 2013, then went on to win his first term in 2014 with 96.9% of the vote.

Turnout of 47% in that year’s election was higher than this year’s 40% despite appeals from Sherif Ismail, the prime minister, for voters to fulfil their patriotic duty.

Boycotters who cannot show good reason for not going to the polls could a face a fine of up to 500 Egyptian pounds (£20), the electoral commission has warned.

At a news conference, election commission official Mahmud al-Sherif said there had been no violations of Egypt’s election law.

Opposition groups had called for a boycott of this week’s vote, which they labelled a facade. There were no presidential debates and Sisi himself did not appear at any official campaign events, although he spoke at a number of ceremonies.

In an interview days ahead of the vote, Sisi said he had wished there were more candidates, denying any role in sidelining them.

At a speech before the vote, he also called for a high turnout. “I need you because the journey is not over,” Sisi told a mostly female audience. “I need every lady and mother and sister, please, I need the entire world to see us in the street voting.”

Morsi’s removal had ushered in a deadly crackdown that killed and jailed hundreds of Islamists. The initial attack on Morsi’s supporters expanded to include liberal and leftist secular activists.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/29/egyptian-president-wins-second-term-after-purge-of-challengers

[Misbah-Abd]

Just another reason that voting is a scam.

[azc]

How sad that Muslim countries are ruled by dictators or kings

[Misbah-Abd]

How sad that Muslim countries are ruled by dictators or kings

But when Sisi dies you will have people on here eulogizing him...

[azc]

But when Sisi dies you will have people on here eulogizing him...

Yes, agree;
I can't stop them

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Statement from President Mohamed Morsi's Family

Statement from President Mohamed Morsi's Family

News have surfaced that the health of President Mohamed Morsi is deteriorating in an unprecedented manner amid total neglegence by his jailers, therefore:

- We hold the 'butcher' commander of the rogue coup [Abdul Fattah Al Sisi] fully responsible for his life.
- We hold the murderer Minister of Interior fully responsible for his health condition, and for providing the President appropriate treatment.
- We hold Abbas Kamel (Sisi’s chief of staff, now head of Egypt’s General Intelligence) fully responsible for conspiracies he devises, threatening President Morsi's life.
- We ask the honorable people in Egypt and the Arab and Muslim World to adopt the cause of Dr. Morsi's rights and his unalienated right to proper health care, and we ask the faithful for their prayers.

Family of captive President Mohamed Morsi.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32917

[Misbah-Abd]

Salaam

Another update

Statement from President Mohamed Morsi's Family

Statement from President Mohamed Morsi's Family

News have surfaced that the health of President Mohamed Morsi is deteriorating in an unprecedented manner amid total neglegence by his jailers, therefore:

- We hold the 'butcher' commander of the rogue coup [Abdul Fattah Al Sisi] fully responsible for his life.
- We hold the murderer Minister of Interior fully responsible for his health condition, and for providing the President appropriate treatment.
- We hold Abbas Kamel (Sisi’s chief of staff, now head of Egypt’s General Intelligence) fully responsible for conspiracies he devises, threatening President Morsi's life.
- We ask the honorable people in Egypt and the Arab and Muslim World to adopt the cause of Dr. Morsi's rights and his unalienated right to proper health care, and we ask the faithful for their prayers.

Family of captive President Mohamed Morsi.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32917

You know Morsi only won 51 percent of the vote when he was elected. Which means any reforms were going to be met with fierce opposition. You have a lot of Egyptians who really don't want to live under Shariah. They want to live according to their whims and desires. So now they will reap what they sow and a leader is only a mirror of the population.

[azc]

Salaam

Another update

Statement from President Mohamed Morsi's Family

Statement from President Mohamed Morsi's Family

News have surfaced that the health of President Mohamed Morsi is deteriorating in an unprecedented manner amid total neglegence by his jailers, therefore:

- We hold the 'butcher' commander of the rogue coup [Abdul Fattah Al Sisi] fully responsible for his life.
- We hold the murderer Minister of Interior fully responsible for his health condition, and for providing the President appropriate treatment.
- We hold Abbas Kamel (Sisi’s chief of staff, now head of Egypt’s General Intelligence) fully responsible for conspiracies he devises, threatening President Morsi's life.
- We ask the honorable people in Egypt and the Arab and Muslim World to adopt the cause of Dr. Morsi's rights and his unalienated right to proper health care, and we ask the faithful for their prayers.

Family of captive President Mohamed Morsi.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32917

:wa:

Morsi will not be freed until US orders

[سيف الله]

Salaam

More comment

Egypt’s Election… A killer in Power

Taking a snapshot of today’s election, Sisi has purged all his candidates, putting some in prison, and others have been ordered to keep silent to avoid detention

Have you ever imagined that, in an election, 5 million go to the ballot boxes and the regime claims they are 25 million? It happens in Egypt … In 2014, and after the coup d’état, approximately 10-15% of the voters only went to the ballot boxes; the regime then said that the turnover was more than 50% … It is normal in Egypt since the army came to power in 1952: the media is theirs, no supervision on election or voting and they can claim whatever they like; if you disagree, you will be put in prison.

Today in Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who led the military coup d’etat against the first elected president in Egypt’s history, is running again for a second term as a defacto president. He has put more than 70,000 in prison from all political parties, including the head of state, the speaker of the parliament, parliamentarians, political activists, university professors, etc. He has also killed more than 850 peaceful protestors in Rabaa Square, according to Human Rights Watch, and hundreds after it. The total number of those who have been extra-judicially killed op to today is not less than 6,000 from civilians.

In 2012, in the parliamentarian elections, Egyptians stood in long queues waiting to put their votes in the ballot boxes for hours; some stayed for 5 hours happily under the rain to exercise their right for the first time in their life.

Then, we knew that our vote really matters and we can get choose whoever we want to represent us. There was wide participation from all the political spectrums, including Islamist, secular, liberal, and national parties, and others. Although there were political tension and polarization that was remarkable at the time, this was part of the new phase in Egypt. You can’t imagine people who have been deprived of the right to engage in politics for decades to present an attitude of established systems and established democracies.

Women, elderly, youth, all categories took part in the political process, including the parliamentary elections, the referendum on Constitution, or the presidential election in 2012.

In the presidential election of 2012, Egypt had more than 10 candidates, many TV interviews, and every candidate presented his plan and agenda in case he wins.

As I was myself in the campaign of Dr. Morsi, I felt there is a real competition. We had to move through every city in Egypt, hold many events and rallies, talk on TV shows, present our agenda and plan to every sector in society, monitor opponents, and participate in many other activities. Yes, polarization was there, but freedom was there too, and it was much more important. Egyptians chose Dr. Morsi, an Islamist.

Taking a snapshot of today’s election

Sisi has purged all his candidates, putting some in prison, and others have been ordered to keep silent to avoid detention. Shafiq, the second runner in 2012 elections, was deported from UAE in a private plan when he announced his interest to become a candidate in the presidential election of 2018. Sami Anan, who used to be the army chief, was arrested weeks ago and put in military prison two days after he announced his candidacy. Abdel-Moneim Abul Fotuh, who was a candidate in 2012 and got almost 4 million votes, was arrested weeks ago after criticizing the regime in a TV interview. Egypt today is a big prison. The only candidate running against Sisi is someone who was campaigning for him, and the regime pushed him to submit his papers for election a short time before the deadline. His name is Mousa Mostafa, and he himself says he is not running against Sisi; he is only doing this to make it appear better.

The dream of democracy and freedom has never ended in Egypt. Today, Egyptians are giving the regime a lesson of boycotting the elections, according to the last study by the Egyptian center of surveys; only 2.6% is likely to show up in the election this time. We will wait still to hear the coming lie from the regime. The regime is politically naked and the stick has almost fully eroded…

https://www.middleeastobserver.org/2018/03/26/column-egypts-election-a-killer-in-power/

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Embedded Tweet

Embedded Tweet

Embedded Tweet

Egypt marks five years since 'Rabaa massacre'

Human Rights Watch said attack on a sit-in protest of Mohamed Morsi supporters in Cairo in 2013, was 'the largest mass killing in Egypt's modern history'.

It has been five years since at least 1,000 people were killed by security forces in Rabaa Square, in Egypt's capital, Cairo.

Human Rights Watch described it as "the largest mass killing in Egypt's modern history".

The group was protesting against the coup which deposed the democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi.

The effects are still being felt in Egypt five years on.

Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports.





The religious establishment at Al Azhar University, the Salafi al-Nour Party, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, the Saudi regime, Egyptian secularists and the Obama administration ALL played a key role in the Rabaa al-Adawiya massacre on 14 August 2013.

Tents were bulldozed and torched alight whilst unarmed protestors rested. Injured protesters that were being treated in makeshift hospitals were shot dead by security forces.

Human Rights Watch cite the death toll as 817, when in reality, the number exceeded 1,500...murdered in one day.

May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) accept those who were massacred in Rabaa as martyrs, and destroy those who persist in their Pharaonic oppression, ameen.

From Dilly Hussain

Interesting response

Muslim Abdullah

But don't forget Abdul Wahid it was HT that was in SYNC with the afformentioned groups to topple Morsi's elected government... Or did that fact just happen to escape you? : )

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Egypt sentences 75 protesters to death after demonstrations where 900 were people killed by security services

Amnesty International describes ruling as 'disgraceful' and a 'mockery of justice'

Egypt has sentenced 75 protesters to death and dozens more to life behind bars in a mass trial over a 2013 protest in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In August 2013 up to 900 people were killed in Rabaa and nearby al Nahda square by security services after they gathered to demonstrate against the coup which had removed the elected president Mohamed Morsi.

At what was initially intended to be a sit-in protest, the mood soon turned violent after Egyptian police moved to disperse the camps. The government said many protesters were armed and that eight members of the security forces were killed.

Of the hundreds who were killed, six were from the security services while the others were protesters. Human Rights Watch described the event as the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history.

Five years after the massacre Cairo’s criminal court has handed down 75 death sentences, 47 life sentences, and heavy prison sentences ranging from 15 to five years to 612 people.

Those sentenced to jail included a US citizen, Moustafa Kassem, rights group Pretrial Rights International said. Washington is Cairo’s closest western ally and one of its top aid donors.

In Saturday’s hearing at the vast Tora prison complex south of Cairo, a criminal court sentenced to death by hanging several prominent Islamists including senior Brotherhood leaders al-Erian and Beltagi and preacher Safwat Higazi.

Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohamed Badie and dozens more were given life sentences, judicial sources said. Others received jail sentences ranging from five to 15 years.

Cases were dropped against five people who died while in prison, judicial sources said.

For executions to take place, president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi must issue a final approval.

Najia Bounaim, north Africa campaigns director at Amnesty International, described the sentences as “disgraceful” and claimed that no member of the security services had been held accountable for the deaths.

“We condemn today’s verdict in the strongest terms. The death penalty should never be an option under any circumstance,” Ms Bounaim said.

“The fact that not a single police officer has been brought to account for the killing of at least 900 people in the Rabaa and Nahda protests shows what a mockery of justice this trial was. The Egyptian authorities should be ashamed.

“We demand a retrial in an impartial court and in full respect of the right to a fair trial for all defendants, without recourse to the death penalty.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egypt-protesters-death-sentence-75-rabaa-al-nahda-square-cairo-mass-trial-a8529201.html

On the current state of Egypt.

Blurb

What has EGYPT'S President SISI ACHIEVED in EGYPT?

For five years Egypt has been governed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and earlier this year he won his second term for Presidential elections with 97% of the vote. The elections were criticised as being a one-man show with no credible opposition and at least six other candidates were forced to pull out, prosecuted or jailed. Sadly, irrespective of the desire for political change expressed by the Egyptian population during the Arab Spring, 7 years later, Egypt remains suffocated with disastrous economic policies, brutal dictatorship and the selling out of its sovereignty to regional and international powers.

The country is likely to remain fractured for many years to come unless the people miraculously are able to create political change, starting with the change of leadership.

[Abz2000]

This thread is informative - i didn't bother replying to @Raymann when he asked me for examples of secularist usurer puppets backing Godless tyrants over Muslims simply because any list would be either exhaustive - or an understatement which does injustice to all the people enduring the results of their lcorrupt godless leaders' wh0redoms with the userer controlled godless secularist nations such as america, ukgb, and their allies.

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Egypt’s new capital city is Sisi’s way of preventing being overthrown

There are few things that shock me in foreign affairs anymore, but observations from a friend who just returned from holiday in Egypt sent shivers down my spine. I hadn’t heard that the regime of General Fattah al Sisi had started building a new capital city about 35 km outside of Cairo called New Cairo, which is to be the seat of government and the military. New Cairo, which is an empty work in progress, already has soldiers guarding it, and sentries posted in guardhouses almost every 200 meters.

Alarm bells or let’s say sirens started going off in my head, as I realised immediately what had precipitated such a move. I had seen it all before in Myanmar. Some years back the military regime in Myanmar had started building a new capital city, Naypyidaw, in secret in order to move the seat of government and military barracks away from the bustling capital of Yangon, to a secure guarded location in the centre of the country. The perimeters of the new city had been concealed over the six years it took to construct, with the local population unable to even access the area.

To be honest, Naypyidaw is the most “creepy” place I have ever visited. If there is a place that exudes a negative energy that makes you want to run the other way, it is Naypyidaw, and I am not alone in that observation. Much to my relief, the official delegation was moving out of the new capital of Myanmar by nightfall, and we never had to actually sleep there. My private tour of the “fake” capital city that day had left me shell-shocked. It was the audacity of a regime to create a false city from scratch for the sole purpose of ensuring that the regime could never be overthrown and that its key institutions would be under maximum security, away from any potential popular revolt.

The poor civil servants of Myanmar were given just a few weeks notice to relocate their families from Rangoon to Naypyidaw. Resistance was futile, and unlike foreign diplomats, civil servants were forced to relocate to the ghost-like city of 16 lane roadways with guard houses at every intersection just a few hundred meters apart – just like the New Cairo.

Driving down a 16 lane roadway with no other cars in sight in the middle of the day, with four sentries watching you at regular intervals was a scene out of something approximating George Orwell’s 1984, although even Orwell couldn’t have imagined something that extreme.

There was a fake tourist tower overlooking the city, an empty amusement park, a military museum that stretched for blocks built to glorify the junta’s rule, and neighbourhoods of mansions built for the governing elite.

The military barracks were in an inaccessible part of the city, and the new “parliament” looked like a fake castle right out of Disney world. I have often wondered how Aung San Suu Kyi has so willingly become part of this fake democracy, operating in this Disney-like parliament, all designed to legitimate the continuation of military rule behind their new puppet with limited powers.

It seems that the Egyptian regime has taken a leaf right out of the Naypyidaw fairytale, and found a way to ensure that the people could never encircle the seat of government or military through another Arab spring uprising. New Cairo will ensure that the country’s administrative buildings no longer overlook Tahrir square.

Under the guise of developing a “smart city,” and alleviating congestion in Cairo proper, Sisi is ensuring that his military elite is encased in a new walled city, with each entry point heavily guarded, and sentry posts adorning the length of the perimeter walls. The massive new city is equipped with a brand new water and power supply and guess what, yes those empty 16 lane highways have been constructed through the desert.

This seems to be the new way to circumvent peoples’ power and real democracy.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/egypts-new-capital-city-is-sisis-way-of-preventing-being-overthrown-17092326

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Egypt freezes assets of charities tied to Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian judicial committee freezes assets of more than 1,000 charities tied to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

An Egyptian judicial committee on Tuesday announced that the assets of more than 1,000 charities tied to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, as well as those of hospitals and individuals, have been frozen, AFP reported.

The funds of 1,133 charities were to be frozen, the committee said in a statement, as well as numerous other entities it said were owned by the Brotherhood.

The decision came after a law was passed earlier this year to oversee the freezing of assets of “terrorists” and “terrorist groups”.

The Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed and designated a terrorist organization in Egypt in December 2013, several months after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, following mass protests against his rule.

The judicial committee additionally announced the assets of 1,589 Brotherhood members would be frozen, including some of the movement’s leaders, according to AFP.

Some 118 companies, 104 schools, 69 hospitals and 33 websites and satellite channels were also hit with an asset freeze.

Since Morsi’s ouster, Egyptian authorities have launched a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters. As part of the crackdown, thousands of Brotherhood supporters have been jailed and the group was blacklisted as a terrorist organization.

Last week, an Egyptian court upheld death sentences against 75 people, including leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The sentences are linked to clashes in 2013 between security forces and Morsi supporters in August of 2013, one of the bloodiest days in Egypt’s modern history.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251834

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Popular Egyptian preacher silenced following spat with TV personality

Mohamed Raslan has praised Sisi, attacked political Islam and defended the Rabaa massacre - but that hasn't stopped him getting banned

Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments has cancelled the preaching permit of prominent and popular Salafist cleric Mohamed Raslan, banning him from delivering sermons.

According to the ministry, Raslan violated the state’s regulations on Friday sermons given in mosques. The ministry has been issuing a unified weekly sermon - a prepared written speech for preachers to read - since 2016, to avoid the “distortion” of the religion.

“No one is above the law,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday, stressing that “everyone is accountable for his actions”.

For two years the ministry has been issuing unified written sermons to preachers across the country, part of a string of measures taken to tighten the government’s grip on religious discourse in Egypt.

The sermon in question appears to have been one Raslan made on 14 September.

In the sermon, Raslan predominantly sticks to the official one provided by the state. However, he then goes on to say a prayer that seems to implicitly criticise Mohammed al-Baz, a high-profile, pro-government TV personality.

The row between Raslan and Baz dates back to June, when one of the preacher’s former followers, Mohamed Abdel Hayy, published a book titled Why We left Him, accusing him of insulting prophets in his sermons.

These allegations were then addressed on television by Baz, who declared Raslan unfit for preaching.

In response, Raslan denounced Baz, saying “the whole world knows how those people unjustly smear honourable men”.

Baz then told Raslan to “stay at home” and said that he has been “misleading people for years”.

Support for Sisi

The punitive measures taken against Raslan come as some surprise, as the preacher is known to be a supporter of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

Raslan has also garnered attention for his outspoken criticism of political Islam, which Sisi, who ousted Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi as president in a 2013 military coup, has attempted to stamp out of Egypt.

Raslan has, however, come to the defence of Sisi and the Egyptian authorities in the past. In 2015, he branded anyone attacking the Egyptian state a “traitor”.

Raslan’s comments followed an explosive sermon given by Egyptian preacher Mohammed Gibril at a Cairo mosque in Ramadan, much of which was dedicated to “corrupt politicians who divided the Egyptian people”, more specifically, “those who killed youths in the squares” and “imprisoned thousands unjustly”.

Gibril’s comments were seemingly in reference to the killings in Egypt’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square which saw at least 800 protestors killed at the hands of police and army forces in 2013.

“If you find a preacher attacking the state, then be sure he has a hidden agenda and wants to incite sedition among the people,” Raslan said in reference to Gibril, further accusing him of being ungrateful to the “state” that “raised him to this rank.”

Ahmed Gatnash, co-founder of the Kawaakibi Foundation, a think tank that works on promoting liberal values in the Muslim world, told Middle East Eye that the marriage between authoritarian leaders and preachers is an increasingly fractious one.

"Dictators try to use religious leaders as a source of legitimacy, and that's increasingly resulting in young people abandoning the religious leaders rather than accepting the authoritarian leaders," he said.

"Ironically, the scholars who spent decades declaring that obedience to the ruler is an unconditional religious obligation are now cornered, because they've pre-empted their own ability to oppose rulers who don't follow their vision of what society should look like - especially in Saudi Arabia."

Following his preaching ban, Raslan took to Facebook to urge his followers to accept the decision. Without a preaching permit, it is illegal for Raslan to give sermons in Egyptian mosques.

The preacher is a Madkhali, a branch of Salafi Islam that espouses unwavering commitment to the ruling power’s unquestionable authority. The branch believes that good Muslims should not engage in politics or democracy.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/popular-egyptian-preacher-silenced-following-spat-tv-personality-227794126

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Morsi vows never to recognise Sisi's coup, says son after prison visit

Deposed president's family visited him in prison on 19 September, spending 25 minutes with him

Deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi told his family in a rare visit that he “would never, ever recognise the coup” that ousted him from power in 2013, his son has said.

Morsi’s family visited him on 19 September in their third visit since the 3 July 2013 coup led by then-defence minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is now president. The two other visits were on 6 November 2013 and 4 June 2017.

On 5 December, Morsi’s lawyers submitted a petition to the administrative court requesting regular visits for his family.

Details of the visit - the first in which Morsi's three sons were allowed to see him - were recounted by Abdullah Morsi to London-based news site Arabi21.

According to the report, Morsi’s son Abdullah said he and his two brothers and sister, along with their mother Najlaa, saw the former president last month. The visit lasted only 25 minutes and no lawyer was present, he said.

Morsi told his family that “out of respect for the Egyptian people and their choices” he would not recognise the legitimacy of the Sisi government, despite the ongoing crackdown against him and his supporters.

Morsi is the country’s first democratically elected president, and a member of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

He was sentenced to death and various jail terms totalling 48 years in five separate cases, on charges including espionage with Hamas, Hezbollah and Qatar, and insulting the judiciary. He is currently appealing all of the sentences against him.

Concerning his health, which has reportedly deteriorated in detention, his son said overall he “seemed well”.

However, he said Morsi still suffers from chronic diabetes and, as a result of the unhygienic prison conditions and denial of access to medication, he has suffered “severe repercussions”, including extreme weakness in the left eye, ulcers in the mouth and the jaws, and hypoglycemic comas.

Inadequate care

Last March, a panel of British parliamentarians and international lawyers warned that Morsi may die prematurely as a result of inadequate medical care.

“As a result of being forced to sleep on the floor, he has suffered acute rheumatic inflammations in the backbone and in the neck vertebrae,” Morsi’s son said.

The former president requested medical treatment as far back as 8 August 2015. But despite a repeated court order that he should be allowed to see a diabetes specialist, this has not happened until the date of the last visit. On 29 November, his family reported this medical negligence to the court, but with no success.

On Wednesday, Cairo criminal court adjourned a hearing against Morsi and 23 others in the case known as “Espionage with Hamas”. The next session will he held on 4 November.

Morsi is denied access to the media, and is barred from having any books or papers, according to Abdullah. He is also denied any contact with others, except the prison guards.

Restrictions on his family visits were criticised by Human Rights Watch (HRW) last year as unlawful.

“Egyptian authorities appear to have seriously violated former President Morsi’s due process rights and may be interfering in his proper medical treatment,” said Joe Stork, then deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW.

“Morsi’s treatment is a window into the appalling conditions suffered by thousands of political detainees in Egypt.”

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/morsi-says-he-would-never-recognise-coup-says-son-after-prison-visit-1886153813

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update, seculars moving in, mind your their PR is getting better.

Egypt drafts bill to ban burqa and Islamic veils in public places

Legislators have argued that full face veils are un-Islamic and that the Quran only requires women to dress modestly and cover their hair

The Egyptian parliament is drafting a law banning women from wearing the niqab veil. The ban will apply to wearing the clothing in public places and government institutions, it has been reported.

The full-face veil is worn by some followers of Islam and typically covers all of the wearer’s face other than their eyes. The clothing is common in Egypt which is a predominantly Muslim country.

MP Amna Nosseir, professor of comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, who has backed the ban, said that wearing the veil is not a requirement of Islam and in fact has non-Islamic origins. She has argued that it is a Jewish tradition which appeared in the Arabian Peninsula prior to Islam and that a variety of Quran passages contradict its use. Instead, she has advocated that the Quran calls for modest clothing and covered hair, but does not require facial covering.

A number of restrictions have been placed on wearing the niqab in Egypt in recent years. In February, Cairo University banned nurses and doctors from wearing it in medical schools and in teaching hospitals, arguing the ban would: “protect patients’ rights and interests.”

In September of last year, the university also banned academic staff from wearing the niqab in classrooms in response to complaints from students that it was too difficult for niqab wearers to communicate effectively with students.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egypt-drafts-bill-to-ban-niqab-veil-in-public-places-a6920701.html

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Al-Sisi’s World Youth Form Doesn’t Reflect Sinai’s True Reality

On November 3, the World Youth Forum(WYF) took place for the second consecutive year in Sharm el-Sheikh under the patronage of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. As a specially selected group of Egyptian youth was welcomed in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, young people in North Sinai were doing their utmost to avoid arrest or disappearance, their efforts sometimes ending with a shot in the head and an official statement celebrating that another “terrorist” has been eliminated.

In February, Sisi encouraged the military to use “brute force” to crush militants in the Sinai Peninsula in the name of “counter-terrorism.”The push was in response to a terrorist attack that took place a year ago.

More than 300 people were killed in the attack by Islamic State-inspired militants on a North Sinai mosque in Rawda, which was inexplicably left unprotected by Egyptian troops despite warnings that militants would attack the mosque.

Last month, the Egyptian military announced that its that troops had killed 450 fighters in Sinai since the start of the campaign, news that was greeted as a blow to Islamic State forces. But such perceptions of success are naïve—especially when placed in context: The military carrying out this counterterrorism campaign is also behind the most severe political repression in modern Egyptian history.

What Sisi and his security forces claim as success are often gross exaggerations and sometimes wholesale fabrications. Since the massacre at the mosque in Rawda and the launch of the military offensive, the largest army in the Arab world has destroyed thousands of homes, taken down the power grid for days at a time, and cut off hundreds of thousands of residents from food during an eight-month blockade of Alareesh, Rafah and Sheikh Zowaid cities in North Sinai.

Between January and April of this year alone, more than 3,600 buildings were demolished, Human Right Watch found purportedly to prevent their use by terrorists. The Egyptian government disputed the report. Meanwhile, the promise of compensation for lost homes and farms seems to lead almost nowhere, despite the regime’s claims to the contrary.

Reporting on Sisi’s clandestine war, which is mired in secrecy, is extremely difficult. The Egyptian government has banned outsiders from visiting the region, even going so far as to call CNN “deplorable” taking a page from President Donald Trump’s book, merely for questioning why journalists are not allowed in. And yet such aggressive tactics have largely failed to prevent the truth from getting out.

The economy in the Sinai Peninsula has ground to a halt, power outages are frequent, petrol is rationed. Many of the “terrorists” that Sisi claims with such pride to have killed were in fact civilians, murdered in cold blood, and then armed after the fact to look like militants.

The Egyptian security forces are running the Sinai operation as a counterterrorism campaign when it should actually be treated as a counter-insurgency, either way, it is being handled miserably. The homes upended, the people displaced, the civilians killed or starved or bullied, stoke the fires of resentment that already existed in the peninsula. The insurgency continues to thrive and grow precisely because of Sisi’s scorched-earth tactics. An estimated £40 million has been lost in the razed agricultural land.

Sinai’s Bedouin people are banned from serving in the police or military and denied many government services, in effect separating them in perpetuity from the rest of the country. Sisi pledged to use a $500 million grant, gifted to him by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to strengthen Sinai’s economy by investing in infrastructure projects. The Sinai people never saw any relevant spending. Any further investment, Sisi has said, will only take place after the region has been purged of “terrorists.”

The actions of the Egyptian army amount to collective punishment, which is a violation of international law. It is not the first time that Sisi’s actions have failed to live up to his words. His ongoing position as president demeans the country and demeans democracy. While his government talks of “stability” and female empowerment, at venues like the World Youth Forum, Sisi permits show trials, mass executions, detention without charge and the punishment of women who speak out against sexual harassment. Sisi, in his compulsive and desperate need to suppress dissent, has created the kind of swirling vortex in which violence thrives.

According to Human Rights Watch, “Now, a humanitarian crisis is looming ever larger in Sinai. Food, water, fuel, and medical supplies are failing to reach the 420,000 civilians who inhabit North Sinai, and rates of unemployment may now be as high as 60 per cent. ”

All schools and universities have been closed since February of this year. In the meantime, Sisi’s planned three-month campaign to “restore stability and security” in the region is in its eleventh month.

It is both deeply ironic and deeply disturbing that it was Sisi, as defense minister under President Mohamed Morsi, who warned that a low-level revolt could mutate into major unrest if the army did not treat the Sinai situation delicately. He would have done well to take his own advice.

https://www.middleeastobserver.org/2018/11/13/al-sisis-world-youth-form-doesnt-reflect-sinais-true-reality/

[سيف الله]

Salaam

Another update

Egypt tries to block airing of Sisi’s ‘60 Minutes’ interview

CBS refuses to stop broadcast, in which president confirms closest ever co-operation with Israel

An interview with US television channel CBS in which Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s president, spoke of his country’s close co-operation with Israel in fighting Isis militants, has stirred controversy after the broadcaster said Cairo tried to stop it from being aired.

The interview on the 60 Minutes news programme was due to air on Sunday evening after CBS said it had refused Egyptian government demands to refrain from broadcasting it. In an excerpt provided by CBS, Mr Sisi is quoted as having said: “That is correct . . . we have a wide range of co-operation with the Israelis,” in response to a question asking him if co-operation with Israel was now the closest ever between the two countries.

Egypt has had a peace treaty with Israel since 1978 and the two countries have diplomatic relations, but Egyptian public opinion still regards the Jewish state as an enemy and occupier of Arab lands. Mr Sisi’s unprecedented admission could hand his critics further ammunition to attack him.

News of co-operation with Israel against Isis militants in the Sinai has been widely circulated in the past year. A New York Times story in February 2018 cited US officials saying Israel had conducted a covert air campaign including some 100 air strikes against Isis militants in the North Sinai with Cairo’s permission. Egypt denied the story at the time. Egypt has fought four wars against Israel since 1948, the last of which in 1973 was aimed at winning back sovereignty over the Sinai.

Cairo has not responded to CBS’s claim that it asked the channel to pull the episode in which Mr Sisi is interviewed by Scott Pelley, the program’s anchor and journalist.

CBS has promoted the programme as “the interview Egypt’s government doesn’t want on TV”. CBS said it was contacted by the Egyptian ambassador shortly after the interview was recorded in the US and asked to refrain from airing it, but the broadcaster has not specified what the Egyptians found objectionable.

The channel has not said why it has held the broadcasting of the interview since September, when it was recorded during a visit by Mr Sisi to New York to attend the UN General Assembly.

Other excerpts of the interview made public by CBS include a denial by Mr Sisi of assertions by Human Rights Watch that the country is holding 60,000 political prisoners. Egypt’s official line is that there are no political detainees in the country and that everyone in prison is there for breaking the law.

Mr Sisi, a former defence minister, led a popularly backed coup in 2013 against his elected Islamist predecessor. He has presided over one of the harshest crackdowns in Egypt’s modern history, targeting mainly Islamists but extending to secular critics, bloggers and journalists.

“I don’t know where they got this figure [of 60,000 prisoners],” Mr Sisi told CBS. “I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt. Whenever there is a minority trying to impose an extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers.”

https://www.ft.com/content/320a08d0-...1-4ff78404524e

Heres the interview

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/egypt-...es-2019-01-06/