Content
Methodology
Introduction
Section I: A reading of the major political developments during the second quarter
Section II: Violations of freedom of expression during the second quarter
First: Press and media freedom
Second: Freedom of creativity
Third: Student rights
Fourth: Digital rights
Methodology
This report presents and analyzes the general policies of the Egyptian authorities and their various agencies towards the right to freedom of expression in its various forms, specifically freedom of the press and media, freedom of creativity and artistic expression, freedom of digital expression, academic freedoms, and student rights. The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) monitors and documents violations in these domains. It also provides legal aid to the victims of these violations through its lawyers at the legal aid unit. The report also reviews and analyzes the patterns of violations that were monitored and documented during the period from 1 April to 30 June 2024, according to AFTE’s monitoring and documentation methodology.
Introduction
During the second quarter of 2024, the Egyptian authorities continued to violate the citizens’ right to freedom of expression, in its various forms. They cracked down on all those who protested over the barbaric Zionist war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, whether they were students, feminists or ordinary people.
On the other hand, the court of appeal upheld a prison sentence against disqualified presidential hopeful and former MP Ahmed al-Tantawy, his campaign manager and a number of members of his campaign. AFTE considered the move as a political punishment against Tantawy for using his constitutional right to run for president. Meanwhile, more than 165 members of Tantawy’s campaign are still remanded in custody in connection with more than one case.
The report tries to analyze the general policies of the Egyptian authorities towards the right to freedom of expression during the second quarter of this year, focusing on the key patterns of violations committed by all parties and their impact on the reality of freedom of expression.
Section I: A reading of the major political developments during the second quarter
Crackdown on protests over Gaza war
The Egyptian authorities did not stop cracking down on all voices supporting the Palestinian cause and opposing the barbaric war waged by the Zionist occupation army against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Last April, security forces violently dispersed a protest organized by a number of Egyptian feminists in front of the UN Women regional office in the Maadi neighbourhood in Cairo.
The event began in the afternoon of 23 April when female activists, journalists, and lawyers staged a protest outside the office, holding banners condemning the crimes against women in Gaza and Sudan, which drew the attention of officials at the regional office. While a delegation from the protesters sought to deliver a written letter to the office officials, security forces began to disperse the protesters and assault them, in addition to stealing the mobile phones of two of them.
Sixteen protesters and two journalists were illegally detained after being beaten. The next day, the Supreme State Security Prosecution released the 16 protesters on bail and the two journalists on personal guarantee, pending investigation into Case No. 1567 of 2024. The prosecution charged them with gathering and joining a group established in violation of the law.
In the same context, a security campaign targeted three students for launching a Facebook page under the title “Students for Palestine” that shows solidarity with the Palestinian people and demands assistance to Palestinian students at Egyptian universities, which we will discuss in detail in the second section of the report.
Continued violations against Tantawy and his team for standing against Sisi in the presidential elections
Violations against politician and former MP Ahmed al-Tantawy and members of his electoral campaign did not stop even after he was prevented from running in the presidential elections in an illegal way that emptied the presidential race of its legitimacy. The crackdown on them continued in what can be described as collective punishment for daring to compete for the political power and put forward a serious platform.
In May 2024, the Matareya Misdemeanor Court of Appeal upheld a one-year prison sentence against Tantawy, his campaign manager Mohamed Abu-Diyar, and 21 members of his campaign. The court also banned Tantawy from running in parliamentary elections for five years. He was tried in Case No. 16336 of 2023 (Matareya Misdemeanor), known in local media as the “public endorsements case”.
This came after Tantawy called on his supporters in a video posted on his Facebook page to print endorsement forms for presidential candidates from the National Election Authority’s website and to prepare public endorsements. This was in response to the widespread crackdown on his supporters in front of notary offices – where public endorsements are issued – in various governorates while issuing public endorsement forms. Following this, he retracted his call and asked his supporters to stop printing the forms, due to the fierce security crackdown they were subjected to.
On 9 October 2023, the interior ministry announced in a statement the arrest of several individuals in Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Fayoum, and Suez, while preparing forged endorsement forms for a potential presidential candidate. The statement mentioned finding 596 blank endorsement forms with the suspects’ signatures falsely indicating they were issued by notary offices.
The following day, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to detain eight members of Tantawy’s campaign pending investigation, accusing them of participating in terrorist group’s activities in Case No. 2255 of 2023. The prosecution later referred Tantawy, his campaign manager, and 21 others to the Misdemeanor Court based on Article 65 of the Law on the Exercise of Political Rights. The article stipulates that anyone who participates in the printing and circulation of opinion cards or any of the papers related to the electoral process, whatever the means, without the permission of the concerned authority, shall be punished with the same penalty if the candidate who benefits from the offence knows and agrees to commit it, in addition to banning the candidate from running in parliamentary elections for a period of five years.
The Board of Trustees of the National Dialogue convenes under presidential and governmental directives
The Board of Trustees of the National Dialogue held one meeting during the second quarter of 2024, in early June, under presidential and governmental directives. At the top of the topics discussed by the meeting was the Palestinian cause and its impact on Egypt, in accordance with the directive of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to include national security and foreign policy issues in the National Dialogue discussions, given the grave conditions resulting from the bloody Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The board underlined the need to line up behind the political leadership in light of the current critical conditions. It requested the judicial authorities to release those held in pretrial detention as a result of their involvement in some activities related to supporting the Palestinian people, stressing that this decision will increase the cohesion between the people and the government in protecting national security. It further stressed the need for everyone to strictly respect the law in this critical time that Egypt is going through.
Indeed, General Coordinator of the National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan, Head of the Technical Secretariat Mahmoud Fawzy, and member of the Board of Trustees lawyer Negad al-Borai submitted this petition to the competent judicial authorities, accompanied by a list of detainees. However, none of those detainees has been released so far, as dozens of them are still behind bars for supporting the Palestinian cause since the beginning of the war last October.
The Board of Trustees welcomed Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s decision to refer to the National Dialogue the issue of the transition from in-kind to cash subsidy for discussion. It said although it had been discussing the issue since the National Dialogue was launched, it has not yet formulated an opinion on it, waiting for the outcomes and recommendations of the dialogue.
It can be said that the Board of Trustees of the National Dialogue has turned over time into a semi-governmental committee, which convenes and sets its priorities in accordance with the directives of the executive authorities. This leads the National Dialogue to lose its main purpose, especially as the government continues to ignore the recommendations of the first round of the national dialogue, despite the fact that these recommendations are insufficient or satisfactory to the civil movement.
The National Dialogue Secretariat continued to hold narrow, unrecorded sessions to discuss issues referred to it from the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister. We do not know exactly the nature of attendance or the form of discussions in these sessions. This happened in the absence of most of the parties of the civil movement that withdrew from or suspended their participation in the national dialogue months ago. This makes these sessions closer to government committees than to a dialogue between the government and the opposition.
The raging war in neighbouring Gaza and the civil war in neighbouring Sudan continued during the second quarter of this year, creating a very dangerous regional situation that could explode at any moment. This necessitated more support from regional and international allies for the Egyptian regime, in return for turning a blind eye to the gross, non-stop human rights violations committed by the Egyptian authorities. A new cabinet is expected to be formed in the next quarter of this year, after the government resigned and President Sisi renewed his confidence in Prime Minister Madbouly and asked him to form a new government.
Section II: Violations of freedom of expression during the second quarter
The second quarter of this year was not worse in terms of the rate of violations committed by the Egyptian authorities against the right to freedom of expression, but the gravity of the violations was no less serious than that of the previous quarter. A court issued a final prison sentence against a politician, former MP and presidential hopeful and a number of members of his campaign, which represents a continuation of using political punishment against citizens for exercising their constitutional rights. Meanwhile, the security services suppressed and cracked down on all voices supporting the Palestinian cause, and restricted the citizens’ right to freedom of expression, whether on the street or online.
First: Press and media freedom
AFTE documented six violations against the media community during the second quarter of this year. These mainly included the prevention of politicians Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed and Mohamed Ghoneim from publishing their opinion articles on Al-Masry Al-Youm and Al-Shorouk websites. Meanwhile, the state-run Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) continued to summon journalists working for independent news websites, as it did with journalists from Zat Misr website over a story published on the website. By such a move, the SCMR tries to intimidate independent news websites. Also, private guards assaulted a journalist, seized his phone and deleted its content.
The Egyptian authorities continue – by all means – to ban any topics that criticize the government policies in various fields. They ban any narrative that contradicts theirs, amid full control by the United Media Services – which is owned by the General Intelligence Service – of the media content in Egypt.
On 26 April, Egyptian physician and politician Mohamed Ghoneim said Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper had prevented him from publishing an article, giving no reason. The banned article addressed the political situation in Egypt, focusing on the need to open the public sphere, guarantee freedom of expression, review the economic policies, and develop education.
Similarly, political science professor Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed said on his Facebook page that the Al-Shorouk website had prevented him from publishing his periodic article despite the agreement with the website’s editor-in-chief to amend some points in the article. Meanwhile, the article was published in full on the Masr 360 website.
The article, titled “The Crises of Political Development and the Arab Tribes Union”, explains ideas related to identity and the danger of the existence and influence of such organizations, which was likely the reason to ban of the article.
In another context, the Egyptian authorities continued to target independent news websites despite their small number in the country and the limited space of freedom they have. AFTE documented two violations against the Zat Misr website, which conducted interviews over the past period with politicians and intellectuals, many of whom oppose the policies of the existing regime. The website’s editor-in-chief, Salah El-Din Hassan, was summoned for investigation by the Supreme Council for Media Regulation against the backdrop of news related to corruption within the Ministry of Youth and Sports and local councils. The investigation has not been concluded yet.
AFTE also documented an assault by private guards accompanying graphic designer Ghada Wali on a journalist at the Cairo 24 website, Mohamed Ramadi, while he was covering an appeal hearing on Wali’s prison sentence. Wali was tried on charges of plagiarizing artwork from Russian artist Georgy Korasov and incorporating it into murals placed on walls of Cairo’s underground metro stations.
According to the Cairo 24 website, Wali’s guards grabbed Ramadi, seized his phone, forced him to open it, and destroyed it, thinking that he was filming Wali, despite Ramadi informing them of the nature of his work as a journalist. Ramadi went to the Basateen police station and submitted a complaint accusing Wali, her husband, and their guards of assaulting him and seizing and destroying his phone despite their knowledge of the nature of his work.
Second: Freedom of creativity
Violations against creative people continued during the second quarter of the year. AFTE documented five violations, three of which were committed by the Syndicate of Musical Professions under the leadership of Mostafa Kamel, who systematically targets mahraganat singers in an attempt to restrict this genre of music under the pretext that it ruins public taste. Also, a concert was cancelled for a number of singers for security reasons, while the SCMR summoned officials from Amazon Egypt after detecting content that contradicted what the SCMR called “the religious values of Egyptian and Arab society”.
On 19 May 2024, spokesman of the Syndicate of Musical Professions Mohamed Abdallah said that Mostafa Kamel issued a decision to suspend mahraganat singer Islam Kabonga for two months after a video circulated online featured him uttering linguistically, morally and artistically degenerated words and phrases, according to Abdallah. The video was of a mahraganat song titled “Walking with a knife”. According to a statement from the syndicate, Kamel decided to take action of deterrence and informed the culture ministry (as an official government body) and the Central Authority for the Censorship of Works of Art (CACWA) of these practices to take legal action and follow up on developments in this regard. According to the syndicate, Kabonga worked under a one-day permit and was not a member of the syndicate. So, the syndicate decided to take quick, decisive and necessary action as soon as it knows about the circulation of any content similar to these mean practices, as described by the syndicate. The matter didn’t end there, as Kabonga told Al-Hadath Al-Youm TV on 25 May that he went to the syndicate to attend the investigation but was surprised that he was permanently suspended.
In the same context, the syndicate decided to summon singer Moslem for investigation over singing without a permit at a school concert. The singer ignored the summons, as the syndicate’s spokesman said that Moslem did not attend the investigation on 4 June, despite the postponement of the session at his request. Moslem said the concert was based on invitations to students and their families, and that a security permit had been issued for it. He also noted that the school undertakes the task of issuing the education ministry’s permit.
In another context, mahraganat singer Enaba said on 13 June that his concert, which was scheduled to be held at Cairo Stadium in cooperation with mahraganat singers Moslem and Omar Kamal the next day, was cancelled. Enaba said: “The concert that was scheduled on 14 June 2024 was cancelled, and whoever booked a ticket should be refunded.” He later told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the concert was cancelled for security reasons. This coincided with the referral of Moslem to investigation at the Syndicate of Musical Professions over a concert he held at a school in the city of Mahalla al-Kubra in Gharbia Governorate.
In a separate context, the SCMR summoned the legal representative of Amazon Egypt over content “inconsistent with the religious values of Egyptian and Arab societies” broadcast on the company’s “Prime Video” platform, which the company’s representative pledged to remove after getting back to the company’s senior management. Indeed, the company removed the content in less than 24 hours, according to a statement from the SCMR, which did not clarify the nature of the content in question. Meanwhile, the SCMR asked all encrypted satellite digital platforms to abide by the rules and standards that must be met in any content displayed to subscribers in Egypt, and to obtain work licenses. The SCMR threatened to block the platforms within three months in coordination with the ministry of telecommunications’ National Telecom Regulatory Authority. It also asked the Central Bank to suspend all transfers to the bank accounts of these platforms, as they operated illegally in violation of Law 180 of 2018 on the regulation of the press and media.
Third: Student rights
Violations against the students’ right to freedom of expression at universities have been declining during the past six years as a result of the nationalization of the public sphere at campuses. This came after a violent security and administrative campaign was launched against the university community following the 2013, leading to a ban on political activism and any campus activity that is not in line with the security policies, which undermined all the democratic gains obtained by the university community after the January 2011 revolution. However, universities had a share of the activities launched in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their legitimate cause. A number of students created a Facebook page under the title “Students for Palestine”, calling for solidarity with the Palestinian cause and Palestinian students studying at Egyptian universities. Despite the Egyptian authorities’ claim to stand by the Palestinian cause and call for pro-Palestinian rallies in the beginning, they cracked down on the students who launched the Facebook page, arresting Ziad Bassiouny, Mazen Ahmed Draz, and Mohamed Ibrahim. The first was arrested on 9 May near his mother’s house, which security forces stormed, searched, and broke its content without giving any reason or displaying judicial permission. Draz was arrested on 8 May from a café in Mansoura. Bassiouny and Draz disappeared, and their whereabouts remained unknown until they appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on 13 May. Meanwhile, a security force entered Mansoura University and arrested Ibrahim, a student at the Faculty of Medicine, from the lecture hall. They took him to the dean’s office, where they interrogated him over boycotting the Coca-Cola company and supporting the Palestinian cause. Ibrahim was released and asked to come back later to meet the dean. On 11 May, he went to meet the dean at the latter’s office, but he was surprised by security personnel interrogating him again for more than five hours, before releasing him. Just two days later, security forces stormed Ibrahim’s house and arrested him without displaying any legal permission, and took him to an unknown destination. On 16 May, he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
The three students were brought before the State Security Prosecution in connection with Case No. 1941 of 2024 (Supreme State Security) on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.
The arrest of the three students coincided with the end-of-year exams, a practice that is usually used to further abuse students. The three students were prevented from taking their exams, despite submitting requests to the university administration and the State Security Prosecution to enable them to take the exams.
Fourth: Digital rights
AFTE documented five violations against citizens over their use of the internet, whether for expression or entertainment. On 21 April 2024, the Economic Misdemeanors Court of Appeal in Tanta upheld a suspended six-month prison sentence against Kirollos Nashed and ordered him to pay a fine of 100,000 pounds on charges of “harassing the bishop of Menoufia, Anba Benjamin, on social media”.
On 11 January 2024, Nashed was referred to trial in Case No. 144 of 2024 (Menouf Economic Misdemeanors). The incident began when religious discussions led the priests of Mar Girgis Church to accuse Nashed of being a Protestant and decided to prevent him from church service. When Nashed complained to the Bishop of Menoufia, he was banned from entering the Orthodox churches in the cities of Menouf and Shebin al-Kom. On the occasions when Nashed tried to attend masses or pray within the churches’ premises, he was also physically assaulted and hustled away. He filed complaints on these incidents.
Nashed then criticized the bishop on Facebook and described him as immoral and inhumane. On 3 January, he went to Menouf police station to file a complaint accusing two unknown men of threatening him at his workplace. However, he was detained under an alleged arrest warrant issued against him after the bishop filed a complaint against him on 12 November 2023, accusing him of slander.
The Public Prosecution charged Nashed with violating Egyptian family principles and values and the privacy of Bishop Benjamin (whose birth name is Michael Younan), and publishing the posts in question on Facebook without Bishop Benjamin’s consent.
Nashed was also charged with insulting and defaming Bishop Benjamin by attributing to him things that, if true, would lead his peers to disrespect him, and creating and running a Facebook account to commit the crimes stated in the abovementioned accusations. He also faced charges of intentionally harassing Bishop Benjamin by misusing telecommunications equipment to commit the said crimes, disdaining Christianity by promoting extremist ideas, harming social peace, and promoting this on Facebook.
On 6 February 2024, the Economic Misdemeanors Court in Tanta issued a six-month suspended prison sentence against Nashed and ordered him to pay a fine of 100,000 pounds and a temporary civil compensation of 20,000 pounds in Case No. 144 of 2024. He filed an appeal, and a hearing was set for 17 March to examine it.
On 26 May 2024, the Ismailia Misdemeanor Court sentenced Sherif Gaber Abdel-Azim in absentia to five years in prison in Case No. 3391 of 2024 (Ismailia Misdemeanors), over online videos and posts that incited atheism and disdained Islam. This came after lawyer Haitham Saad filed a complaint against Abdel-Azim for the second time over videos the latter posted on his YouTube channel, which addressed several matters including religious ones. The complaint was referred to the Second Ismailia Prosecution, then to the Ismailia Misdemeanor Court.
This was not the first time Abdel-Azim was arrested over his views. In 2013, he was arrested on charges of contempt of religion, when he was a student at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Suez. He had a discussion with one of his professors about homosexuality and atheism, which eventually led some students and faculty members to sign a petition and send it to the university president accusing Abdel-Azim of atheism and spreading its ideas on Facebook. The university president, Mohamed Mohamedain, filed a complaint with the police against Abdel-Azim at the time.
Abdel-Azim was arrested and released later after paying a fine in December 2013, but the case continued. In February 2015, he was sentenced to one year in prison, but he appealed the verdict. The prison sentence was cancelled, but he was fined 1,000 pounds. In 2018, as Abdel-Azim continued to post videos about religion, lawyer Haitham Saad filed a complaint against him accusing him of contempt of religion. The case was referred to the downtown Cairo prosecution. Abdel-Azim was sentenced in absentia by the Ismailia Misdemeanor Court to three years in prison. Despite the ruling, he continued to post videos on his YouTube channel in which he talks about various things, including religious issues.
Continued targeting of TikTok girls
The Egyptian authorities continue to target and crack down on girls who share content on social media, on charges of violating societal values, publishing indecent videos, and promoting debauchery and immorality. In this regard, AFTE documented three cases during the second quarter of this year.
On 26 May 2024, blogger Hadeer Abdel-Razek was arrested from her apartment in Cairo. The prosecution remanded her in custody for four days on charges of publishing indecent videos that incite debauchery and immorality. Her mobile phone was seized for checking. On 20 June 2024, the prosecution released her on a bail of 50,000 pounds.
On 1 June 2024, blogger Somaya Neston was arrested for sharing indecent videos on social media. She was arrested in possession of a mobile phone. The prosecution remanded her in custody for four days pending investigation, on charges of publishing indecent videos and inciting debauchery and immorality.
On 23 April 2024, blogger Nadine Tarek was arrested for sharing a video of herself which the security services said was suggestive and incited debauchery and immorality. The prosecution charged her with violating the family values of Egyptian society, publishing indecent videos, promoting prostitution and misusing social media. The Cairo Economic Court set 20 July for issuing a verdict in the case.
Recommendations
- The Egyptian authorities should drop the verdict issued against politician Ahmed al-Tantawy and his campaign team.
- The public prosecutor should release all those held in pretrial detention for expressing their opinions.
- The public prosecutor should drop charges against TikTok girls and stop prosecuting them.
[1] AFTE’s monitoring and documentation methodology, https://bit.ly/3vyVIFw [2] AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit [3] A post on X by lawyer Khaled Ali, a member of Tantawy's defense team, 27 May 2024, https://x.com/Khaledali251/status/1795063590883352876 [4] Statement from the interior ministry on its official Facebook page, 9 October 2023, https://www.facebook.com/MoiEgy/posts/pfbid02rYmbSrKAUvRVR2FWTV9qxHr82GxCjwi2mNUfpoPm3TeZxEA3Zyi1W2YxK3hWnDgyl [5] Online testimony from the website's editor-in-chief [6] Mohamed Ghoneim’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mohamed.a.ghoneim.7/posts/pfbid0jkeLsG4afEmms5DYePi3a6TaAzjzqL8S93Lz6EhvqeyQQJd9Xbs4TczJ9VsLG8sJl [7] Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mustapha.elsayed1/posts/pfbid02wxmNRFd1L5iU7R1pQnAjYLkWGZfE4hNTGK4iwPcgzV1DM6RAkvbK3KheKUTp15x1l [8] Cairo 24 takes legal action against the thugs of Ghada Wali and her husband Hassan Abu Al-Rus, Cairo 24, 18 April 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://www.cairo24.com/1991669. [9] Mostafa Hamza, Islam Kabonga suspended by decision from the Syndicate of Musical Professions, Masrawy, 19 May 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://shorturl.at/GNef6 [10] Mohamed Selim, Moslem summoned for investigation at the Syndicate of Musical Professions, 4 June 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://www.filfan.com/news/171819 [11] Omnia Fawzy, "Enaba" reveals the real reason behind the cancellation of his concert with Omar Kamal and Hamo Beka, 13 June 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/3192464 [12] Statement posted on SCMR’s Facebook page on 12 June 2024, https://www.facebook.com/scmediaeg/posts/pfbid0y2i3xCt1mZGgLijAWVKwRRqvFXZRnhd4QmJ7n4fGuN5fHQSPxyeXVNo9gGAm5NV4l. [13] AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit [14] Suspended prison sentence against Kirollos Nashed upheld in the case of "insulting" Anba Benjamin, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, 21 April 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://shorturl.at/9mKgt [15] Ghada Abdel-Hafez, After a five-year prison sentence, who is YouTuber Sherif Gaber Abdel-Azim who was convicted of contempt of Islam and incitement to atheism? Al-Masry Al-Youm, 26 May 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/3179056 [16] Saber El-Mahalawy, Blogger Hadeer Abdel-Razek arrested, Masrawy, 26 May 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://shorturl.at/hThgu [17] Emad Hassanein, Blogger Somaya Neston arrested on charges of publishing indecent videos, Cairo 24, 1 June 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://www.cairo24.com/2018217 [18] Mahmoud Abdel-Salam, 20 July set for issuing verdict against blogger Nadine Tarek for publishing indecent videos, Al-Shorouk, 6 July 2024, last visited on 15 July 2024, https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=06072024&id=02ec6e8b-c3fd-45bd-8593-c9b407aa5ae4.
