Under President al-Sisi, activists too often spend years in pre-trial detention without ever going to trial, under what the New York Times has called a “crushing campaign against dissent.”
There have also been increased prosecutions of women for “morality offences” in connection with behavior deemed antithetical to Egyptian societal values and “public decency,” with charges brought under vague provisions in Egypt’s Penal Code and the 2018 Anti-Cybercrime Law—one of which TrialWatch has monitored and involved women prosecuted simply for singing and dancing videos online.
CFJ Co-Founder Amal Clooney has successfully freed clients even in the most challenging legal landscapes. This includes Al Jazeera’s former bureau chief for Egypt, Mohamed Fahmy.
[Amal's] strategic advocacy, negotiation skills, and … access to the global diplomatic community was the main reason I was pardoned after returning to maximum security prison again to serve a flawed 3-year sentence.
TrialWatch, an initiative of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, monitored the trial in Egypt of Ms. Haneen Hossam and Ms. Mawada al-Adham, who were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for “assault[ing] family principles and values in Egyptian society.”
The charges were based on photos and videos that the defendants had posted of themselves on social media platforms and, in the case of Hossam, her alleged encouragement of girls to hold meetings online. In the photos and videos, Hossam and al-Adham are fully dressed, and are mostly singing and dancing. The court however found that they had “broadcast[ed] … ideas opposing the customs and traditions of Egyptian society … with the aim of achieving rapid material gain.” Their convictions on July 27, 2020 breached their rights to freedom of expression and to be free from discrimination, in violation of treaties that Egypt has ratified.
