Note: This piece was published before rs21 was established as an independent organisation in January 2014. rs21 was founded by a group of people who had been in the opposition within the SWP and who left in response to its persistent mishandling of rape and sexual harassment allegations against a leading member.
Egyptian socialists sentenced to two years in jail
rs21 •MENA Solidarity Network reports that Mahienour el-Masry and Hassan Moustafa, two leading activists with the Revolutionary Socialists in Alexandria, Egypt, have been sentenced for defying anti-protest laws.
They each face two years of hard labour in prison and a £4,000 fine. Four other Alexandrian activists, Lu’ay Al-Qahwagi, Amr Hafez, Nasir Abu-al-Hamd and Islam Muhamadein, received the same sentence.
The activists were charged with organising a demonstration without police permission. This was made illegal in Egypt under new laws brought in late last year by General al-Sisi’s regime.
MENA Solidarity is asking people to do three things:
- sign their statement in solidarity with the Egyptian revolution
- distribute their toolkit to campaign against the anti-protest laws
- join the demonstration outside the Egyptian embassy in London on 25 January, 2pm, marking the third anniversary of the revolution
Here is a video interview with Mahienour recorded in 2012. Click on the captions icon (fourth from the right at the bottom) to switch on English subtitles. You can also follow her on Twitter at @Mahienour.
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