An Egyptian court on Monday convicted a prominent human rights advocate and lawyer of spreading false news and insulting a government authority, adding another name to a growing list of activists, journalists and dissidents whom the state has aggressively targeted and sought to silence for years.

The penalty imposed on the lawyer, Hossam Bahgat, was relatively modest, but the prosecution was just the latest chapter in a legal odyssey that has brought him to near ruin. It began more than five years ago, when the authorities opened an investigation into his activities and subjected him to an open-ended travel ban that he says crippled his career and sent him into depression.

On Monday, Bahgat was spared jail time and fined about $650 — an outcome that experts said appeared calculated to serve two purposes: a guilty verdict that would intimidate government opponents into silence while simultaneously presenting a more reasonable face to the audience abroad by not imprisoning him.

“It gets harder, it doesn’t get easier,” Bahgat said as he walked out of the courthouse. “They think they can change the rhetoric and leave everything as is. And so far it’s working.”

As the host of a major global climate summit next year, COP27, the country’s president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is showing signs of growing increasingly conscious of global opinion when it comes to human rights.

But for all the appearance of a softer tone, the reality on the ground in Egypt remains grim for critics of his rule.

The conviction of Bahgat, who runs one of the few remaining independent human rights groups in Egypt, followed a series of convictions with harsher penalties than the one imposed on him.

In June, Ahmed Samir Santawy, an Egyptian researcher and graduate student of anthropology in Vienna, who was detained during a visit to Egypt and questioned about anti-government posts he had made on social media, was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of spreading false news.

And this month, five activists and politicians, including a former member of Parliament, were sentenced from three to five years in prison, also on charges of spreading false news and using their social media accounts to undermine national security.

More trials of other researchers, activists and bloggers are expected in the coming weeks.

Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of dissidents who have been incarcerated in the past few years, many without a trial, still languish in Egyptian prisons.

The continuing trials and jailings of activists underscore the increasingly authoritarian direction the country has taken under the leadership of el-Sissi, who became president in 2014.

“I see darkness,” said Mohamed Anwar Sadat, a former head of the human rights committee in Parliament, who has more recently played an informal role mediating between civil society groups and the state. “We thought the trial would bring a better end to these cases and serve as a way out of the crisis, but we’re in shock.”

Bahgat, the founder and executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was on trial under a cybercrime law for a Twitter post last year accusing a government official who had presided over the elections authority of overseeing a fraudulent parliamentary election. The official was a judge who had died.

Monday’s conviction came shortly after el-Sissi made several announcements that had appeared to suggest the state would ease its stranglehold on political opposition and freedom of expression.

In September, he said that Egypt would honor all “obligations toward human rights and fundamental freedoms.” And in October, he declared an end to a 4-year-old state of emergency that had given the government and its security forces sweeping powers to crush dissent and detain citizens.

The announcements had led to some hope in Egypt that the country might be adopting a more tolerant approach that would allow civil society groups to operate without police harassment and the continuous threat of detention. Sceptics, however, pointed to the introduction of other laws that strengthened the grip of the authoritarian government and dismissed el-Sissi's assurances as hollow, made to fend off criticism from the West.

“That discourse seemed to signal an opening, but the reality shows the opposite,” said Khaled Ali, a former politician and lawyer who represents some of the activists still on trial. “It’s a huge contradiction.”

Going after Bahgat, critics said, is the latest evidence of a state that is not willing to let up on its efforts to quash free speech and the political opposition, often in the name of maintaining order and stability in a region rife with conflict.

US&nbsp;Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there were “issues of concern” in Egypt before the bilateral talks that took place earlier this month.

“Making tangible and lasting improvements on human rights is also essential to strengthening our bilateral relationship,” Blinken said, as he highlighted the issues he planned to cover with his Egyptian counterpart during the meetings. First on the list, and before human rights, was regional stability.

Bahgat is still embroiled in a separate criminal case against a number of non-governmental organisations and dozens of their members that the authorities have accused of receiving foreign funding illegally. He came under investigation in 2016 and has since been banned from travel and had his assets frozen.

Before Monday’s verdict, 46 human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, issued a statement calling on Egypt to “cease the harassment and persecution” of Bahgat.

“This represents the unprecedented state of oppression that we’ve been living under,” said Nasser Amin, a former member in the National Council for Human Rights. “There are no practical or realistic measures that point to any real intention or desire to improve the state of human rights in Egypt.”

An Egyptian court on Monday convicted a prominent human rights advocate and lawyer of spreading false news and insulting a government authority, adding another name to a growing list of activists, journalists and dissidents whom the state has aggressively targeted and sought to silence for years.

An Egyptian court on Monday convicted a prominent human rights advocate and lawyer of spreading false news and insulting a government authority, adding another name to a growing list of activists, journalists and dissidents whom the state has aggressively targeted and sought to silence for years. The penalty imposed on the lawyer, Hossam Bahgat, was relatively modest, but the prosecution was just the latest chapter in a legal odyssey that has brought him to near ruin. It began more than five years ago, when the authorities opened an investigation into his activities and subjected him to an open-ended travel ban that he says crippled his career and sent him into depression. On Monday, Bahgat was spared jail time and fined about $650 — an outcome that experts said appeared calculated to serve two purposes: a guilty verdict that would intimidate government opponents into silence while simultaneously presenting a more reasonable face to the audience abroad by not imprisoning him. “It gets harder, it doesn’t get easier,” Bahgat said as he walked out of the courthouse. “They think they can change the rhetoric and leave everything as is. And so far it’s working.” As the host of a major global climate summit next year, COP27, the country’s president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is showing signs of growing increasingly conscious of global opinion when it comes to human rights. But for all the appearance of a softer tone, the reality on the ground in Egypt remains grim for critics of his rule. The conviction of Bahgat, who runs one of the few remaining independent human rights groups in Egypt, followed a series of convictions with harsher penalties than the one imposed on him. In June, Ahmed Samir Santawy, an Egyptian researcher and graduate student of anthropology in Vienna, who was detained during a visit to Egypt and questioned about anti-government posts he had made on social media, was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of spreading false news. And this month, five activists and politicians, including a former member of Parliament, were sentenced from three to five years in prison, also on charges of spreading false news and using their social media accounts to undermine national security. More trials of other researchers, activists and bloggers are expected in the coming weeks. Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of dissidents who have been incarcerated in the past few years, many without a trial, still languish in Egyptian prisons. The continuing trials and jailings of activists underscore the increasingly authoritarian direction the country has taken under the leadership of el-Sissi, who became president in 2014. “I see darkness,” said Mohamed Anwar Sadat, a former head of the human rights committee in Parliament, who has more recently played an informal role mediating between civil society groups and the state. “We thought the trial would bring a better end to these cases and serve as a way out of the crisis, but we’re in shock.” Bahgat, the founder and executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was on trial under a cybercrime law for a Twitter post last year accusing a government official who had presided over the elections authority of overseeing a fraudulent parliamentary election. The official was a judge who had died. Monday’s conviction came shortly after el-Sissi made several announcements that had appeared to suggest the state would ease its stranglehold on political opposition and freedom of expression. In September, he said that Egypt would honor all “obligations toward human rights and fundamental freedoms.” And in October, he declared an end to a 4-year-old state of emergency that had given the government and its security forces sweeping powers to crush dissent and detain citizens. The announcements had led to some hope in Egypt that the country might be adopting a more tolerant approach that would allow civil society groups to operate without police harassment and the continuous threat of detention. Sceptics, however, pointed to the introduction of other laws that strengthened the grip of the authoritarian government and dismissed el-Sissi's assurances as hollow, made to fend off criticism from the West. “That discourse seemed to signal an opening, but the reality shows the opposite,” said Khaled Ali, a former politician and lawyer who represents some of the activists still on trial. “It’s a huge contradiction.” Going after Bahgat, critics said, is the latest evidence of a state that is not willing to let up on its efforts to quash free speech and the political opposition, often in the name of maintaining order and stability in a region rife with conflict. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there were “issues of concern” in Egypt before the bilateral talks that took place earlier this month. “Making tangible and lasting improvements on human rights is also essential to strengthening our bilateral relationship,” Blinken said, as he highlighted the issues he planned to cover with his Egyptian counterpart during the meetings. First on the list, and before human rights, was regional stability. Bahgat is still embroiled in a separate criminal case against a number of non-governmental organisations and dozens of their members that the authorities have accused of receiving foreign funding illegally. He came under investigation in 2016 and has since been banned from travel and had his assets frozen. Before Monday’s verdict, 46 human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, issued a statement calling on Egypt to “cease the harassment and persecution” of Bahgat. “This represents the unprecedented state of oppression that we’ve been living under,” said Nasser Amin, a former member in the National Council for Human Rights. “There are no practical or realistic measures that point to any real intention or desire to improve the state of human rights in Egypt.”

In latest assault on dissent, Egypt convicts a human rights activist

Egypt has arrested nearly 2,000 people in what may be its biggest crackdown since the aftermath of the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

The authorities have also blocked or interrupted various internet services and websites, in a bid to stamp out any repetition of the open defiance of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shown by <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/anti-sisi-protests-break-out-in-egypt-several-arrested-250950">protesters last weekend</a>, the watchdog said.

"Lawyers for detainees have posted on their social media pages several accounts of security forces arbitrarily arresting many people merely for being in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' or possessing critical content on their phones," HRW said in a statement.

"The government also has deployed uniformed and plainclothes security officers in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities in and around main streets and squares, randomly stopping passersby, searching and questioning people, and forcing them to show the contents of their mobile phones and social media accounts", they added.

Last weekend's rare protests against what is widely seen as one of the most authoritarian governments in the Middle East were triggered by viral videos from exiled businessman Mohamed Aly.

He has called for a "million-man march" and a "people's revolution" to unseat Sisi, whom he accuses of building lavish palaces while taxpayers grapple with the impact of austerity under an International Monetary Fund loan programme totalling $12 billion.

HRW called on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nightmare-as-egypt-aided-china-to-detain-uighurs-243790">Egypt's Western allies</a> to suspend military assistance until the government ceases its "gross violations of international law".

"World leaders should recognise that providing security and military assistance to abusive forces won't bring stability to Egypt, and that what's needed instead is a government that respects the rights and freedoms of the Egyptian people," said its Middle East and North Africa director, Sarah Leah Whitson.

Egypt has arrested nearly 2,000 people in what may be its biggest crackdown since the aftermath of the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

Egypt has arrested nearly 2,000 people in what may be its biggest crackdown since the aftermath of the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. The authorities have also blocked or interrupted various internet services and websites, in a bid to stamp out any repetition of the open defiance of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shown by protesters last weekend, the watchdog said. "Lawyers for detainees have posted on their social media pages several accounts of security forces arbitrarily arresting many people merely for being in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' or possessing critical content on their phones," HRW said in a statement. "The government also has deployed uniformed and plainclothes security officers in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities in and around main streets and squares, randomly stopping passersby, searching and questioning people, and forcing them to show the contents of their mobile phones and social media accounts", they added. Last weekend's rare protests against what is widely seen as one of the most authoritarian governments in the Middle East were triggered by viral videos from exiled businessman Mohamed Aly. He has called for a "million-man march" and a "people's revolution" to unseat Sisi, whom he accuses of building lavish palaces while taxpayers grapple with the impact of austerity under an International Monetary Fund loan programme totalling $12 billion. HRW called on Egypt's Western allies to suspend military assistance until the government ceases its "gross violations of international law". "World leaders should recognise that providing security and military assistance to abusive forces won't bring stability to Egypt, and that what's needed instead is a government that respects the rights and freedoms of the Egyptian people," said its Middle East and North Africa director, Sarah Leah Whitson.

Nearly 2,000 arrests in Egypt crackdown: Human Rights Watch

An Egyptian court on Saturday froze assets of five prominent human rights defenders and three non-governmental organisations. 
 
There has been a renewed interest in the five-year-old case that alleged the NGOs received foreign funds to sow chaos and destabilise the country. 
 
The trial has threatened a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Cairo.&nbsp; 
 
An investigating magistrate had ordered the asset freezes in February, but they were subject to court approval.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We know from the start the case is political and the aim is revenge against NGOs that expose the state&#39;s abuses,&quot; said Gamal Eid, founder and director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information whose assets were frozen. 
 
Rights groups say it is a wider campaign to silence human rights activism. 
 
European Union External Action Service criticised the decision, &quot;The increased pressure on independent Egyptian civil society, in particular human rights organisations and defenders, is not in line with Egypt&#39;s commitments to promote and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms as guaranteed by its Constitution.&quot; 
 
The court&#39;s decision is a &quot;reprehensible blow to Egypt&#39;s human rights movement&quot;, the London-based Amnesty International said in a statement. 
 
New York-based Human Rights Watch also deplored the decision. 
 
&quot;Egyptian authorities are single-mindedly pushing for the elimination of the country&#39;s most prominent independent human rights defenders,&quot; it quoted its Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson. 
 
This decision paves the way for criminal proceedings against the defendants that could also lead to life sentences. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Activists say Egypt's crackdown on human rights groups is a wider campaign to erase freedoms and silence civil society

An Egyptian court on Saturday froze assets of five prominent human rights defenders and three non-governmental organisations. There has been a renewed interest in the five-year-old case that alleged the NGOs received foreign funds to sow chaos and destabilise the country. The trial has threatened a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Cairo. An investigating magistrate had ordered the asset freezes in February, but they were subject to court approval. "We know from the start the case is political and the aim is revenge against NGOs that expose the state's abuses," said Gamal Eid, founder and director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information whose assets were frozen. Rights groups say it is a wider campaign to silence human rights activism. European Union External Action Service criticised the decision, "The increased pressure on independent Egyptian civil society, in particular human rights organisations and defenders, is not in line with Egypt's commitments to promote and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms as guaranteed by its Constitution." The court's decision is a "reprehensible blow to Egypt's human rights movement", the London-based Amnesty International said in a statement. New York-based Human Rights Watch also deplored the decision. "Egyptian authorities are single-mindedly pushing for the elimination of the country's most prominent independent human rights defenders," it quoted its Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson. This decision paves the way for criminal proceedings against the defendants that could also lead to life sentences. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Egypt court freezes assets of human rights defenders, NGOs

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egypt crackdown

In latest assault on dissent, Egypt convicts a human rights activist

Nearly 2,000 arrests in Egypt crackdown: Human Rights Watch

Egypt court freezes assets of human rights defenders, NGOs