Journalism is Not a Crime

“Journalism is Not a Crime” is a worldwide campaign to support all the imprisoned journalists all over the world and demand their freedom.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 211 journalists are jailed worldwide in 2013.

In September 2014, the CPJ listed 11 jailed journalists in Egypt.  

• Al Jazeera English Journalists

Peter Greste, an Australian, Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian national, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian – were detained in Cairo on December 29, 2013.

The Egyptian prosecutor has accused Al Jazeera journalists of producing "false news" in the country. However, their friends and families have gathered all their work so people can decide themselves.

“Egypt has witnessed an alarming escalation in attacks on press freedom since Mohamed Morsi was deposed in July 2013 with a number of journalists facing arrest for reporting on human rights violations carried out by the security forces.  Amnesty International urges the Egyptian authorities to respect freedom of expression and allow journalists to carry out independent reporting into all issues, including criticizing the government, without the threat of intimidation or arrest,” Wrote Amnesty International. 

• Mahmoud Abouzeid "Shawkan" 

A freelance photojournalist arrested on August 14, 2013 while covering the dispersal of Rabaa sit-in.

Abou Zied, also known as Shawkan, was not comfortable going to Rabaa Al-Adaweya on 14 August following reports that other photographers had been assaulted by the protesters there, according to Louis Jammes, a French artist and friend of Shawkan, who was detained at the same time.

 http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/blackout-independent-journalism-egypt-today-case-mahmoud-abu-zeid

Detained freelance photojournalist; Shawkan

Shawkan has been in prison for more than a year, facing 12 charges including murder and possession of a weapon amongst others.

His friends and family launched a campaign; Freedom For Shawkan on facebook. 

A silent protest of journalists demanding the freedom of Shawkan

• Many other journalists imprisoned 

“Journalism is not a crime” is not only a slogan, it’s the truth. Journalism should never be a crime or accusation. 

A dozen Egyptian journalists joined scores of political detainees and activists in an ongoing hunger strike against the restrictive anti-protest law, calling for the release of those jailed under it.

“We begin this battle because we believe that freedom of expression through protesting or writing, or any peaceful method, is an established right,” the journalists said in a statement.

“When journalists are threatened, arrested, attacked or otherwise cowed into silence, the truth dies. It is up to all of us to keep it alive,” Conor Fortune, News Writer at Amnesty International, said. 

East Africa journalists protest against Egypt's crackdown on journalists

Empty stomachs battle

Political prisoners in Egypt have just one weapon to confront the authorities: hunger strikes.

Thousands of Egyptians join “Empty stomachs battle” in solidarity with prisoners and detainees who are fighting this battle. Hunger strike spreads nationwide. 

People use this picture as their profile picture or cover photo in solidarity with the hunger strikers

Estimates say around 41,000 people have been arrested in Egypt since the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. Human rights groups report at least 25,000 people have been arrested this year and many have died while in custody. Reports indicate that torture is still widely used on prisoners.

With all the political detainees in prisons, helplessness was increasing across the youth. So, people announced that they would mount peaceful political protests, expressing feelings of solidarity with 104 inmates under the slogan "Gebna akherna” (We've had it) - a phrase from a letter written by prisoner Alaa Abdel-Fattah announcing his despair and his intention to go on hunger strike. This sparked a new campaign - the so-called "empty stomachs" battle. 

 

Alaa Abdel Fattah wrote in his letter: “I urge you to continue with the struggle, dream, and hope, which I have stopped doing.”  

Recently, a number of political detainees entered an open-ended hunger strike in protest against their detention without trial for periods exceeding the legal limits. Alongside them are those who received unjust verdicts, in their opinions, under the cover of the Protest Law, which they opposed from the beginning.

A protest in Cairo in solidarity with the hunger strikers inside the prisons

Most hunger strikers have chosen to only drink water, tea without sugar, supplements to avoid permanent nerve damage and rehydration solution for the loss of electrolytes, Ahmad Mamdouh, a Cairo University medical student who serves as the medic for the hunger strikers, explained. Others allow fruit juice in addition to the water and vitamins. Many continue to smoke cigarettes.

Dr. Laila Soueif and her daughter Mona Seif in solidarity with hunger strikers

“We are not trying to send our message to the normal people,” Zizo Abdo, one of the leaders of Gebna Akherna campaign, said. “Our message is directed to the government, that we are strikers and we have demands and message to them.”

Activists and prisoners have long used hunger striking as a powerful form of protest, but it is physically draining and dangerous. Some strikers pledge limited periods of time, while others pledge to continue indefinitely. 

A family under attack

An Egyptian family that represents the revolution in all its phases; Seif/Soueif family. On Wednesday August 27th, Egypt lost one of its famous human rights defenders lawyers and human rights activists: Mr. Ahmed Seif El Islam Hamad Abdel Fattah.  

Seif/ Soueif family

• The Father

A leading human rights lawyer whose career spanned four decades, Seif el-Islam worked on several of "the most important human rights-related cases in the country", according to Amnesty International.

Originally a leftist , Seif El-Islam defended the rights of people in Egypt since late 1980s. He defended the rights of political detainees whether liberals or Islamists or socialists or Nasserites.

Mr. Seif was a victim of torture himself, he was imprisoned and tortured in the 1980s. He studied law in prison and, after his release, began practicing law and later helped found one of Egypt’s leading human rights organizations, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center.

Mr. Seif was detained four times, and the last detention was for a few days during the 2011 revolution.

A happy picture of Ahmed Seif 

Seif El-Islam died in coma after a cardiac arrest he got following an open heart surgery in Cairo. However, he didn't have his two children - Alaa and Sanaa - beside him on his death bed because they were both imprisoned.

At a news conference in January, Mr. Seif used his family’s story to illustrate the lack of progress in Egypt since the revolution. “Alaa, I wanted you to inherit democratic society that guards your rights,my son, but instead I passed on the prison cell that held me and now holds you,” he said.

• The mother 

Laila Soueif, a mathematics professor at Cairo University. She's a trailblazing figure who has dedicated her life to the struggle for freedom and social justice in Egypt. Her tools are not smart phones or new media, but sheer willpower, fearless tenacity and an unshakable faith in her cause.

She spent years raising her children alone while her husband was in prison. She has braved police batons at countless demonstrations over the years, while her son was also jailed for his activism.

Dr. Laila Soueif participating in a protest

Dr. Laila starts a hunger strike in support with the detainees 

• The son

Alaa Abd El-Fattah; an Egyptian blogger, a software developer and a political activist. He is known for co-founding along with his wife Manal Hassan the Egyptian blog aggregator Manalaa and Omraneya, the first Arab blog aggregators that did not restrict inclusion based on the content of the blog.

A picture of Alaa in 2011

Alaa and Manal 

Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been questioned, arrested and detained on several occasions. He was arrested on 7 May 2006 when demonstrating for independent judiciary and released on 20 June 2006. On 30 October 2011 he was arrested for inciting violence at the 9 October Maspero clashes and released on 25 December 2011. In this period, his son Khaled was born while he was in prison.

On 26 March 2013 he was arrested for inciting aggression during a protest outside Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters, known as the Mokattam Clashes of March 2013 but was later acquitted on all charges.Two days later, on 28 March 2013 he was arrested and charged for torching former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik’s campaign headquarters on 28 May 2012, and received a suspended 1-year jail term.

On 28 November 2013 he was arrested for rallying, inciting violence, resisting authorities and violating theAnti-protest Law after a demonstration against military trials for civilians outside Shura Council building on 26 November 2013.He was initially released on 23 March 2014 after 115 days in detention. In June 2014 he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison and detained again awaiting his retrial, during which time he went on a hunger strike. In his retrial on 15 September 2014 he was released on bail.

In that time, Alaa's father passed away. He was able to visit him once in the intensive care and to attend his funeral. However, he was not beside his father in his last days.

Alaa at his father's funeral

On 26 October 2014, Alaa was detained again on the first day of his retrial for breaking the protest law. Until today, he is imprisoned.

• The bigger daughter 

Mona Seif; political activist and the founder of the civil rights campaign “No Military Trials for Civilians".

She is a biology graduate student, working on the BRCA1 breast cancer gene.

Mona is known to be a defender of the detainees' rights. She documents what happens to the detainees and supports them.

 
 She writes in her own blog, or in twitter.

 Mona Seif was among the final candidates for 2012 Front Lin Award for Human Rights Defenders.

• The younger daughter

Sanaa Seif; a 20 years old activist and a student of languages and translation at October University.

She is the editor of the documentary film "The Square".

On June 21st, Sanaa Seif has been imprisoned for demonstrating against the unjust conviction of her brother Alaa Abdel Fattah.

On August 28, Sanaa Seif decided to begin the hunger strike after seeing her father in a coma during the authorized visit.

“It was then that she realised more and more the extent of oppression that thousands of detainees and families are exposed to in silence and away from the attention of most people,” her sister Mona Seif wrote.

Sanaa with her brother Alaa at their father's funeral

On October 26,Sanaa and the other 22 detainees with her were sentenced to three years in prison and a 10.000 L.E. fine.

She's still in prison until now.

Soltan dying to live!

Mohamed Soltan is a 26 years old Egyptian-American citizen. He was arrested on August 25th of 2013, and started a hunger strike on January 26th of 2014. His health condition is very critical, however, the judge refuses to release Soltan on medical grounds. 

He was raised between Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, and Massachusetts. After he received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ohio State University, Soltan returned to Cairo in 2013 to take care of his mother who suffers from cancer.

A picture of Mohamed Soltan in the United States

On August 25^th of 2013, the police forces attacked Soltan’s house and arrested him along with three of his friends.

In the period of investigations after his arrest, Soltan was moved around five different prisons and police stations. He was blindfolded and tortured several times, according to his family.

Mohamed Soltan along with 50 Muslim Brotherhood members are accused of forming a control or operations room to spread chaos after the dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in.They face charges of scheming to create chaos and planning raids on police stations and private property.

At Soltan’s first appearance in front of a judge on January 26, Egypt’s public prosecutor did not present evidence incriminating him in the “operations room” plot — but the judge renewed his detention anyway. This caused Soltan to take the decision to hunger strike, from that day until now Soltan has been on hunger strike.

His health deteriorated rapidly. Throughout his hunger strike, Soltan has been in and out of the hospital a number of times. Often Egyptian prosecution would not allow him to make desperately needed visits to the hospital, or they would recall him to prison at times when he was in need of intensive care.

In his letter fromTora prison hospital on May 11th , Soltan listed 19 reasons he is on hunger strike. 

Which he ended by saying: “Because I refuse to be the victim of a political conflict or even a political bargain of which I am not even a party. Because I am not afraid of death, which is drawing near. I do want to live but I want to live free, or I shall die free. If my life is the price of freedom, then freedom is worth paying my life for. Because I want to be declared innocent of this charge of terrorism because, put rather simply, Mr. Judge, I am not a terrorist.”

Soltan also said in his letter that he was arrested alongside with his friends who were visiting him when the police came to his home on August 25^th to arrest his father. When they did not find him they took Soltan and his friends.

A picture that shows Mohamed Soltan before and after the hunger strike

The family of Mohamed Soltan joined him in his hunger strike. They say that he had been detained for 14 months "without charge or evidence”. Their move came after a court on the 15^th of October that refused to release Soltan on medical grounds. It was the third rejection in a month.

“Mohamed’s health is deteriorating, he is unable to move, his blood clotting condition is completely mismanaged to a life threatening degree. He is still on strike, but is being held in prison with my father. Medical staff comes by sporadically to take his vitals, nothing more,” said Hanaa, Mohamed Soltan’s sister.

Soltan’s family has accused the U.S. government of not doing enough to push Egyptian authorities to resolve or drop his case, which they say is politically motivated. Supporters of Soltan have also called the charges against him to be politically motivated.

A picture of Mohamed Soltan and his father in the courtroom

In mid-June, he was forcefully taken from his cell and temporarily moved to an unknown location.

“The Ministry of Interior brought a full SWAT force to my solitary confinement cell and carried me blindfolded to another prison cell where I was told I was going to die. I sat in my wheelchair in the middle of the cell and started praying,” Soltan told his family.

Mohamed Soltan’s next trial is on December 13th. 

A picture of Mohamed Soltan behind the bars in the October 22nd trial