Trial of 31 human rights activists accused of spreading fake news to be held today in Egypt’s state of emergency
Photo: Amr Nabil / Associated press
The trial of 31 human rights activists accused of spreading fake news will be held today before the Egyptian State Security Emergency Court.
Egypt established a state of emergency in 2017, placing speech-related offenses under the jurisdiction of state of emergency security courts. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially ended the state of emergency on October 25, 2021, but legal proceedings against the 31 activists began before the state of emergency dissolved.
The Egyptian crackdown on human rights activists led the Biden administration to withhold $ 130 million of the $ 1.3 billion planned for annual aid to Egypt in 2021. Therefore, wait- you that the United States continue to value its geopolitical relations with Egypt rather than the human rights violations committed in the country.
Egypt plays an important role in mediating regional conflicts, especially those between Libya, Israel and Lebanon. As such, expect the United States to continue to withhold only a fraction of Egypt’s annual aid to appease human rights organizations, while supporting Egyptian diplomacy in the process. region. Therefore, in the medium to long term, expect Egypt to prosecute human rights activists with relative impunity.
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