Egypt anti-government protests grow

[J Ed]

An unknown number of people detained and tortured without trial and being the leader of a military coup for starters, I'm sure if you put your mind to it you can think of one or two other things.

He's the most repressive Egyptian leader since the late 19th Century, no argument from me there, just pointing out that the prize doesn't have very strict criteria these days

 

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He's the most repressive Egyptian leader since the late 19th Century, no argument from me there, just pointing out that the prize doesn't have very strict criteria these days

Heh no, it doesn't

 

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It doesn't mean very much at this stage, since there are well over 200 nominations so far and this one was made by a regional UN arts office.

I suspect its just a regional propaganda attempt that, despite the laughable history of the prize, is not terribly likely to translate to him winning. Not impossible but nothing really points in that direction at the moment.

Here is an early phase of this propaganda attempt, back in February:

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/02/18/al-sisi-win-nobel-peace-prize/

 

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Egypt's Sisi nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by fake UN agency

 

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Ah that makes sense, given how vulgar the propaganda was.

 

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No surprises here.

Egypt, UK military chiefs of Staff talk counter-terrorism efforts in Libya

Egypt’s Military Chief of the Staff Mahmoud Hegazy and his U.K counterpart Nicholas Houghton, Chief of Defense Staff for the UK Armed Forces met to discuss cooperation on counter-terrorism efforts and Libyan security turmoil, announced UK ambassador to Egypt John Casson Sunday.

“Building on a strong, existing relationship between the UK and Egypt, General Houghton held frank and open discussions with General Hegazy. General Houghton emphasized the UK’s commitment to work with Egypt to tackle the shared challenges facing both countries,” the statement read.

Hegazy has paid London a four-day visit and he toured in Longmoor military training camp where 15 Egyptian military officers receive close protection trainings, the statement noted.

“General Hegazy’s visit opens new horizons in the developing partnership between Britain and Egypt. Our countries face the same threat from ISIL terrorism and the extremism that feeds it, and the UK will not leave Egypt to stand alone against it, in Sinai, Libya or elsewhere,” Casson said.

“We must also expand our work to confront the long-term political, economic and ideological challenges that lie behind the crisis in the region,” he continued.

Newsweek reported Tuesday that UK government has invited Egypt and other Arab and Gulf countries of the Middle East to the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition, held in ExCel Center of London.

 

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Meanwhile, this smells somewhat dodgy to me

Al-Qaeda leader’s brother acquitted in ‘Zawahiri cell’ case

Mohamed Rabie al-Zawahriri, the brother of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahriri has been acquitted of the charges of forming a terrorist cell affiliated with al-Qaeda in Egypt, while 10 out of 88 defendants were sentenced to death, Youm7 reported.

The South Cairo Court upheld death sentences against 10 defendants in that case dubbed in media as “Zawahiri terrorist Cell,” while other 20 convicts received life imprisonment sentences.

On Aug. 10, the Cairo Court referred the sentences to Grant Mufti Shawki Allam for his advisory opinion. Only 50 defendants attended the trial and the others are fugitives.

The prosecution has accused the defendants of establishing and directing a terrorist organization aiming to “disrupt constitution and state institutions, spying for Al-Qaeda organization, planning to target security installations and inciting to kill army and police forces.”

Further details to follow.

 

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Special mission immunity and UK investigations of the 2013 slaughter got some attention in the wake of Sisi's UK visit:

British anti-terrorist police have confirmed that none of the 43 top ministers and military aides who had command and control responsibility for the mass deaths that occurred in Cairo in August 2013 accompanied Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on his visit to London.

Sisi himself is immune to prosecution because he is head of state, but other members of his cabinet and administration are not, unless they applied for and received special mission immunity from the Foreign Office.

The government’s frequent use of this tool is currently being challenged in court by a former director of public prosecutions, Lord Macdonald, who is acting on behalf of the deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

In a letter to lawyers acting on behalf of Morsi and the Freedom and Justice Party, the war crimes unit of SO15 wrote: “The War Crimes Team is not currently in possession of any information which would suggest that any of the 43 suspects, referred to us as part of the scoping exercise, are currently in this jurisdiction. The only exception is Mr el-Sisi, who, due to his position as head of state, has immunity.”

The war crimes team said that should any of these individuals arrive in the UK, the police would seek to implement any action they deemed to be appropriate to further their investigations. They have already begun interviewing victims and survivors of the events in Cairo in August 2013 and collected lengthy witness statements.

Last month Lieutenant General Mahmoud Hegazy, the chief of staff of the Egyptian Army, was given special mission immunity to come to the UK at the invitation of the Ministry of Defence on a four-day visit.

The decision to give Hegazy immunity is being challenged in the courts on two counts. The legal team of the FJP will argue that there is no basis in British law for that immunity, and that, on the contrary, there is a basis in British law to investigate claims of torture. Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act empowers the British police to detain for questioning anyone accused of organising torture in detention.

The aim of the legal process is to prevent special mission immunity from being used as a loophole which would shut off the universal jurisdiction of British courts and to shield any foreign visitor from an investigation into allegations of serious crimes such as war crimes and torture.

Egyptian war crimes suspects didn't travel with Sisi to UK: Police

 

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Sounds like foreign office minister Tobias Ellwood took some flak over the visit too:

Tory unrest about Egypt's President Sisi a bit of a coup

Oh yes and this:

“It is absolutely right that we press human rights matters, but we are also very forward-thinking in our work to assist Egypt,” Ellwood said on Thursday morning, noting that the largest company currently operating in Egypt, the telecoms giant Vodafone, is British.

Sisi, Cameron disagree over cancellation of Sharm el-Sheikh flights

 

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“It is absolutely right that we press human rights matters, but we are also very forward-thinking in our work to assist Egypt,” Ellwood said on Thursday morning, noting that the largest company currently operating in Egypt, the telecoms giant Vodafone, is British.

i'm sure this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the UK governments apparent ready access to intelligence providing chatter regarding the bombing - or not - of the Russian airliner in Sinai.

suddenly, it looks a bit cleverer than just selling ones soul to dodgy regimes...

 

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UAE told UK: crack down on Muslim Brotherhood or lose arms deals

The United Arab Emirates threatened to block billion-pound arms deals with the UK, stop inward investment and cut intelligence cooperation if David Cameron did not act against the Muslim Brotherhood, the Guardian has learned.

Internal UAE government documents seen by the Guardian show that the crown prince of Abu Dhabi was briefed to complain to the prime minister about the Muslim Brotherhood in June 2012, when one of its leading members, Mohamed Morsi, became Egyptian president.

In the briefing notes it was suggested that the crown prince demand Cameron rein in BBC coverage.

In return, Cameron was to be offered lucrative arms and oil deals for British business which would have generated billions of pounds for the jet divisions of BAE Systems and allowed BP to bid to drill for hydrocarbons in the Gulf.

 

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Another human rights activist and journalist questioned and possibly in line to be prosecuted for "publishing inaccurate and false information that harms national interests," . Seriously, I think these people have no idea how stupid vile and repugnant this makes them look when they do shit like this.

Update: Lawyers attend military interrogation of Hossam Bahgat

 

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Egypt's Military Offered Top Activist A Deal To Escape Jail Time, But He Refused It

 

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Egypt's Military Offered Top Activist A Deal To Escape Jail Time, But He Refused It

This looks like the Sisi G'ment is getting paranoid. Seems that this A coup busted? is the article he has been arrested for, an expose of the military trials of (very) senior military figures that were all done in secret.

Sisi looks to me to me to be a classic stalinist.

 

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He's a complete arsehole, that's for sure.

 

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Article touching on some of the people mentioned above plus some others.

Sisi’s War on Reporters

 

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A Revolution Devours Its Children

 

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Hundreds Vanishing in Egypt as Crackdown Widens, Activists Say

 

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Sounds like an Italian student may have been tortured and killed by the security services, leading to diplomatic tension.

Italian student Giulio Regeni's body found in Egypt - BBC News

Initial reports from Egypt said his body showed signs of torture. These were then contradicted by claims that the 28-year-old might have been the victim of a traffic accident. But a prosecutor now says Mr Regeni suffered stab wounds and cigarette burns, pointing to a "slow death".

These contradictions are making headlines in the Italian media and were enough for the government to issue a harsh statement which said it had summoned the Egyptian ambassador - and urged Cairo to "immediately" launch a joint investigation to ascertain what happened to Mr Regeni.

There was a heavy police presence in the capital that day because it was the fifth anniversary of the start of the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.

In the run-up to the anniversary, security forces raided about 5,000 homes in Cairo, looking for anyone who might be planning to take to the streets. Several activists were arrested, while others went into hiding.

The area where Mr Regeni was going to meet his friend was near Tahrir Square, the symbolic centre of the 2011 uprising.

 

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So I am thinking it is highly likely now that he was tortured and killed by the security services.

Italian student killed in Egypt criticized Cairo govt. in articles

 

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Petition: Statement on UK steps to ensure a full investigation of Giulio Regeni's death

 

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also

On Giulio and the cost of doing business in Egypt

A Cambridge University Student Savagely Killed in Egypt, But By Whom?

 

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for those folks in London....

 

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