for A brief moment, 49 multicoloured balloons decorated the gates of the grey metal installed in front of the Egyptian embassy on Tuesday, June 23, in the very chic 16th arrondissement. Filmed live with a few friends, Céline Lebrun had also provided cake and candles to celebrate the 49 years of her husband, Ramy Shaath. “I don’t know if you are in good health, but I decided to get as close as possible to thee, before we are together again,” explains the young woman, the throat, but the smile intact. Expelled to France a year ago, this teacher has the prohibition of return in the egyptian capital, where she was arrested her husband, an egyptian, an activist of the palestinian cause and the son of an adviser to president Mahmoud Abbas. Close to opponents to the left, he is accused of “assisting a terrorist group” without ever having had access to the details of the charges against him.Céline Lebrun © Ariane Lavrilleux
In a year, Céline Lebrun was not authorized to call only once. It was last may, after several months of negotiations with the egyptian authorities. Ramy Shaath described him the impossible respect of the gestures barriers in his cell of 25 square meters with 16 fellow prisoners and jailers not always hidden. Since this call, a guard and an inmate are dead in the Covid-19 in this same prison, populated by thousands of opponents. Reportedly, the authorities sent an inspection mission, but no results have been published. “It is very hard not knowing and not being able to talk to him then that the employees of the prison shall take the transport all day and are potentially in contact with the virus,” adds Céline Lebrun. According to the british daily The Guardian, two sections of the prison Tora, were placed in quarantine for grouping patients Covid-19. In the rest of the country, the situation is worrisome. Infection rates soar, with more than 55 000 cases were reported and many hospitals are saturated.
Visits and letters prohibited
Since the outbreak of the epidemic last march, the visits to the parlor were prohibited. The hearings before the public prosecutor held without the accused. The isolation of prisoners has never been as drastic. And the families, who were protesting pay a high price. For weeks, the mother and sister of Alaa Abdel Fattah claim only to be able to bring hygiene products and to exchange letters with this figure of the 2011 revolution. In the Face of the continued refusal of the prison administration, these tireless activists have started camping in front of the prison.
Until a band of thugs attack and dislodges violently, the 22 June, under the eyes of a police impassive. And when, the next day, they wanted to file a complaint to the office of the prosecutor, the security forces have appeared and kidnapped the youngest of them, Sana’a Seif. “The message of the ministry of the Interior is clear : nothing, not even the highest court in the country, may not protect you,” says Hussein Baoumi, a specialist on Egypt at Amnesty International. A few hours after his disappearance, Sanaa Seif appeared again before the prosecutor, who was placed in detention for 15 days.
a New wave of arrests
The NGO defence of human rights accused the authorities of using the pandemic to increase the repression and the silencing of civil society. Nearly thirty pages and Internet sites were blocked on the grounds that they were broadcasting “false news” related to the coronavirus, according to Reporters without borders. In the space of three months, seven journalists have been imprisoned, in a country already ranked third largest prison for journalists in the world.
caregivers, in the front line against the virus, are not spared. While nearly a hundred have died of the coronavirus, several were arrested after they complained about their working conditions and lack of means of protection. At the same time, the powers of the president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have been strengthened through the law on the state of emergency that gives him the ability to close it at any time companies and government agencies.
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