[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Political Rights
Egyptian authorities have arrested Mahmoud Ezzat, the acting supreme guide of the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood, at a hideout in eastern Cairo, in the most significant Brotherhood arrest in recent years.
Jailed rights lawyers and journalists in remand detention charged in new case
The State Security Prosecution added rights lawyer Mohamed al-Baqer and journalist Esraa Abdelfattah—both of whom have been jailed on remand since September 2019—to a new case on Monday, according to lawyers.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) condemns the verdict passed in absentia by the Fifth Circuit of the Criminal Court (terrorism felonies) with fifteen years imprisonment for Bahey El Din Hassan, founder of Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), and one of the pioneers of Egyptian human rights work throughout its history.
Egypt's former chief auditor Hisham Geneina has 1-year sentence for 'false news' upheld
Egypt's New Cairo Misdemeanour Court on Thursday upheld a one-year suspended sentence for the former head of the country’s Central Auditing Organisation (CAO), Hisham Geneina, in addition to fining him twenty thousand Egyptian pounds on charges of spreading false information against the state.
Egyptian administrative prosecutor referred to criminal court for assaulting police officer
Egypt’s prosecutor-general referred on Saturday an administrative prosecutor to the criminal court for assaulting a police officer on duty last week.
Egypt's business tycoon Salah Diab detained for 15 days over multiple charges
Egyptian authorities decided on Wednesday to hand businessman Salah Diab a fifteen-day detention pending investigation into an array of charges. According to sources, Diab is facing multiple corruption charges, including tax evasion. He owes the state 11,135 billion Egyptian pounds in overdue taxes.
Egypt prosecutor refers Ahmed Bassam Zaki to court for sexual assault of minors, blackmail
Egypt’s prosecutor-general on Tuesday ordered Ahmed Bassam Zaki be referred to criminal court on charges of sexual assault of minors, blackmail, and sexual harassment.
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called on the Public Prosecution to urgently clarify the legal position of all victims and witnesses in the two cases of sexual violence known in the media as the "Fairmont case."
Smear campaign, arrests in blowback over Fairmont rape case
The Public Prosecution ordered three people detained for four days pending investigation into incidents related to the Fairmont rape case, according to a statement released by the prosecutor’s office on Monday night. Three others were ordered released on bail of one hundred thousand Egyptian pounds each and an additional person was ordered released without bail. The news came after a major smear campaign targeting witnesses and campaigners in the Fairmont rape case that began circulating online Monday.
How the justice system shuts women out
Although the constitution contains multiple provisions extending equal protection for women in public office, the numbers tell a different story: there are just sixty six women judges in Egypt, out of more than twelve thousand. Some of the country’s highest judicial bodies, including the State Council, the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Public Prosecution, have no women judges in their ranks. And no new women judges have been appointed since 2017—the same year President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged to raise the proportion of women judges to twenty-five percent by 2030.
The grand imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, lauded the House of Representatives after it had postponed voting on a controversial draft law regulating the country's Dar al-Iftaa, or the House of Fatwas (religious edicts).
Egypt’s NEA to refer eligible voters who didn't cast ballots in Senate elections to prosecution
The Board of Directors of the National Elections Authority (NEA) decided on Wednesday to refer all voters who had failed to vote in the first round of the Senate elections to the prosecution, a statement by the NEA said.
Foreign Policy
Trimming Turkey’s wings: Ankara and Cairo fight for influence in Africa and East Med
The calculus behind the Greek-Egypt maritime agreement shines a light on Egypt’s foreign policy toward Turkey more broadly. Rather than an unequivocally anti-Turkish stance, which could lead to dangerous military brinkmanship, officials in Cairo have often been in talks with their counterparts in Turkey. The discussions include both the demarcation of maritime borders as both sides vie for a role in the East Mediterranean’s energy future and to ensure the two sides do not clash directly in Libya, according to several Egyptian officials.
Cairo supports truce, political settlement in Libya: Egypt's FM tells UN envoy
Cairo supports any step to reach a truce and a political settlement in Libya that achieves security and stability for the Libyan people, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Stephanie Williams, the deputy head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for political affairs during a meeting in the Egyptian capital on Sunday.
Egypt, Bahrain FMs welcome Palestine-Israel initiatives for fair, comprehensive peace
The Egyptian and Bahraini foreign ministers met in Cairo on Saturday and said their countries appreciate the initiatives that target achieving comprehensive and fair peace for the Palestinian cause, a joint statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry read.
Economy
Egypt repaid USD 6.8bln in debts in Q1 2020: CBE
Egypt has repaid 6.8 billion US dollars of its foreign debt obligations in January-March 2020, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said.
Egypt is set to transfer the ownership of seven public buildings and their land to the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, according to a decree by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi published in the official gazette on Thursday.
Egypt’s public debt is assessed to be sustainable, but not with a high probability. Its level is high and gross financing needs are large, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its report on Egypt issued late Tuesday.
Emerging market debt burdens to remain higher than pre-pandemic levels over next 5 years: Moody’s
Debt burdens of the nineteen large emerging market sovereigns (EM19) will remain higher than pre-pandemic levels over the next few years, with policy credibility and buffers to drive credit quality in coming years, Moody’s said in a recent report.
Preparations commence on drilling 3 West Nile Delta gas wells costing $250m
Preparations are underway to start drilling three development gas wells in the West Nile Delta area, Sherif Hassaballah, Chairperson of the Burullus Gas Company and Rashid Petroleum Company (Rashpetco), has announced. The drilling comes as part of the West Delta Deep Marine project’s tenth stage to produce natural gas, and is set to cost an estimated 250 million US dollars.
Domestic Security
Egypt's armed forces have killed seventy-seven terrorist elements during various raids in the last few weeks, the country’s military spokesman said on Sunday, adding that the operations had led to the death or injury of seven army personnel.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has given a heated speech slamming the widespread illegal construction on agricultural land in the country, which he says has continued despite countermeasures, and threatened to deploy the army if the problem persists.
From Jadaliyya
I Come from El Salam: Mahraganat Music and the Impossibility of Containment
This essay explores mahraganat's origins, and analyzes the contentious relationship between singers and the state, exacerbated after the Musicians Syndicate’s official ban.
Aarbic
وقائع تدوير جديدة: القضية 855 لسنة 2020 تبتلع ستة من متهمي 20 سبتمبر
Six political activists arrested in the protests on 20 September have been ordered pretrial detention in a new case N. 855 of 2020, facing charges that include joining a "terrorist group.”
Six human rights organizations called on the authorities to immediately release political prisoners in case N 855 of 2020.
Egyptian rights lawyer Ibrahim Metwally Hagazy has been rotated into a new case No. 786/2020 over “leading a terrorist group” charges.
القوى العاملة: فض إضراب العاملين وصرف المنح والأرباح في مواعيدها بشركة كريازي
The 7548 striking workers of Kiriazi company ended their strike, as profit shares and bonuses will be released on time.
حملة أوقفوا الاختفاء القسري تصدر تقريرها السنوي: انتهاك مستمر وعدالة غائبة..
The Stop Enforced Disappearance campaign released its fifth annual report on enforced disappearance in Egypt over the past five years.
مصادر وشهود عيان: القبض على والدة "قتيل المنيب" والعشرات من أقاربه وجيرانه
Security forces cracked down on protesters in Munib accusing the police of killing a young man named as Islam the Australian.