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Egypt

Egypt: Hard Times Stoke Labour Unrest, Showdown Lies Ahead

By Staff of The New Arab - Labour activist Kamal al-Fayoumi has lost none of his swagger since being fired from the sprawling Egyptian textile plant where he worked for three decades and was known as an agitator. Striding through a gritty industrial town in the Nile Delta, he proudly points to workers' clubs, cooperative grocery stores, cinemas, a pool and a hospital – all of which have seen better days – and brushes off threats from management and the police.

Cairo Marks World Press Freedom Day With Raid On Journalists’ Syndicate

By Ayah Aman for AL-Monitor - CAIRO — On May 1, just two days before World Press Freedom day, Egyptian police raided the Press Syndicate in Cairo and randomly detained a number of journalists as they were working. This measure against media workers represents a dangerous escalation in the security services’ campaign targeting journalists in a country that the Committee to Protect Journalists describes as “among the world’s worst jailers of journalists.”

Families Of Imprisoned Journalists Begin Open Ended Sit-In

By Staff of Daily News Egypt - Families of imprisoned journalists began an open ended sit-in at the Press Syndicate headquarters on Sunday, according to an announcement on the Facebook page representing the coalition of families. At least 42 journalists are currently in detention, according to the latest Press Syndicate figures, whereas the coalition estimates the number to be around 90 journalists. The families chose Sunday in particular as the start date for the sit-in as it will coincide with a syndicate ceremony celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Egypt: The Bloody Hands Of A Weak Regime

By Peter Cork for In Defense of Marxism - It is no coincidence that Regeni disappeared on the evening of January 25th, the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. An official of the Egyptian government initially made the disgraceful suggestion that he died in a road traffic accident. A witness later told Italian police that they had seen him being stopped by plain-clothes security officers not far from his Cairo home. Now the Egyptian police claim that they have recovered Regeni’s rucksack from the apartment of a member of the gang who murdered him after stealing his money and belongings.

Egyptian Students ‘Kidnapped By Security Forces’

By Staff of The New Arab - Mohammed Yousry Ali, an engineering student, was kidnapped by police while he was heading to see friends, reported Egypt's Human Rights Monitor, a group set up to act as a watchdog for violations of rights. Ali's family have made numerous complaints with the Attorney General and other relevant authorities, but have seemingly been ignored, and Egyptian authorities have refused to declare his whereabouts. The family said that since his abduction, they have faced "psychological hell" as they wait for news about their son.

Egypt Five Years Later; US Radiating Half The Country

By Eleanor Goldfield for Occupy - This week we passed the five-year anniversary of Tahrir Square but do we even know – or care – what's happening there now, and do we see the parallels with what's going on right here? Occupy.com speaks with an Egyptian activist who sets the record straight on the past and the present. Next up, it's the week to stand strong on the frontlines against corporate takeover. And finally, this low life scum is not something you can see, taste or have probably even heard of – but it's poisoning more than half our country and here's what you can do about it. But first, allow me to not be polite, but poetic.

My Second World Press Freedom Day In An Egyptian Jail

By Abdullah Elfakharany for Middle East Eye - I was naïve - at least in the first days after I was arrested. I thought that the world would rise up to defend me, my colleagues and the freedom of the press, which was nurtured in Egypt after the 25 January Revolution in 2011. I thought all those press and human rights organisations, as well as opinion leaders who preach day and night about freedom of opinion and expression as essential values and principles, would do their best to stand in the face of flagrant violations against journalists in Egypt.

Memory Of Egyptian Revolution Is Only Weapon We Have Left

By Omar Robert Hamilton for The Guardian - I didn’t take my camera out with me the night Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. I stood in Tahrir Square among tens of thousands of Egyptians and told myself I would enjoy the moment, I would not divide myself from the night’s magical reality with a lens. I had filmed up until then because it was my job, because history must be recorded, because an image can change the world, because everyone had to contribute somehow to the revolution. But that night the camera stayed at home. History had happened, the world was changing before our eyes.

Arab Spring Anniversary: Protesters Defy Crackdown

By Staff of Aljazeera - Anti-government protesters defied a security crackdown and took to the streets as Egypt marked the fifth anniversary on Monday of the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak. Egyptians demonstrated against the military-led government in Alexandria's Al-Qaed Ibrahim Square, which was the site of 2011 protests, as well as in Nasr City and Shubra district in the capital, Cairo. Two Egyptians were shot dead by police in an alleged "exchange of gunfire" in Cairo's October 6 district. Security forces also used gas bombs to disperse protesters in Cairo's eastern al-Matareya district as well as in Kafr Sheikh.

India Protests Egypt President Al-Sisi’s Visit

By Students Islamic Organisation of India for Bay Area Antifada, New Delhi: A protest was held on Wednesday against the visit of Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Around two hundred people from different parts of the city gathered at Jantar Mantar near the Parliament House to protest against General el-Sisi who overthrew his country’s first democratically elected government of president Mohammad Morsi through a military coup in 2013. General el-Sisi is in Delhi to attend India-Africa Forum Summit. The protesters were holding placards with various slogans like ‘Failed Egypt Economy No Help to India,’ ‘Go Back Sisi, Not Welcome at India’. The protest demonstration was jointly organized by All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Association for Protection of Civil Rights and Students Islamic Organisation of India.

Egypt Will Be Worse Than Pre-2011 With New Terrorism Law

By Sarah El-Deeb in Business Insider - After a series of stunning militant attacks, Egypt's government is pushing through a controversial new anti-terrorism draft bill that would set up special terrorism courts, shorten the appeals process, give police greater powers of arrest and imprison journalists who report information on attacks that differs from the official government line. The draft raised concerns that officials are taking advantage of heightened public shock at last week's audacious attacks to effectively enshrine into law the notorious special emergency laws which were in place for decades until they were lifted following the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Rather than reviewing security policies since the attacks, officials have largely been focusing blame on the media for allegedly demoralizing troops and on the slowness of the courts.

Egyptian Journalist Shawkan On His 600 Days In Prison

By Samantha Libby in Committee To Protect Journalists - "Photography is not just a hobby for me. It is an actual way of life. It's not just how you hold a camera and snap a picture. It's the way that you see life and everything around you." So reads a letter written by Mahmoud Abou Zeid, an Egyptian freelance photojournalist also known as "Shawkan," to mark his 600th day behind bars. In the letter, which was published on Monday, Shawkan describes the physical and psychological toll that prison has taken on him, but maintains that he simply wants to be free to practice photojournalism: "My passion is photography, but I am paying the price for my passion with my life. Without it, a part of me is missing."

After Year Long Hunger Strike Mohamed Soltan Released In Egypt

By Al Jazeera Staff. Jailed activist Mohamed Soltan, who has been on hunger strike for over a year in protest against his detention in Egypt, has been freed and sent back to his home country, the United States. Soltan, a 27-year-old US-Egyptian dual citizen and human rights activist, was arrested in September 2013 when police was searching for his father, a senior member of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. Last month, Soltan was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly supporting the group, a verdict his family challenges, saying that there was no evidence against him. A website calling for his release also said he was not a member of the Brotherhood, describing him as a US-educated peace activist who was involved in youth events and charities.

Al-Jazeera Journalists Leave Egyptian Prison On Bail

A court in Egypt has freed two imprisoned al-Jazeera English journalists on bail, nearly a fortnight after their Australian colleague, Peter Greste, was deported. The decisions means Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been allowed to walk free for the first time in 14 months. They were arrested in December 2013 on trumped-up charges of helping terrorists and spreading false news. Adel Fahmy tweeted jubilantly on Friday morning that his journalist brother had been released after posting bail. Baher Mohamed was also freed, his family told the Guardian soon afterwards. Fahmy had been ordered to put up 250,000 Egyptian pounds (£21,000/$US33,000) for his freedom, but Mohamed and several students also tried alongside Greste have no fee to pay.

230 Egyptian Activists Get Life Sentences

An Egyptian court sentenced prominent activist Ahmed Douma along with 229 other anti-Mubarak activists to life in prison on Wednesday after the court held hearings for 269 people connected to “the cabinet headquarters events” of December 2011, judicial sources said. Douma and 268 others were accused of staging “riots” outside central Cairo's cabinet headquarters and assaulting policemen during a sit-in back in December 2011 against a decision by Egypt's then-ruling military council to appoint as prime minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, who had served in this position under ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. In addition to “rioting,” the activists were accused of possessing white arms like knives, attacking police officers and armed forces, burning the al-Majmaa al-Alami and attacking other government buildings including the cabinet headquarters.

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Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

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