{"id":925,"date":"2018-08-26T10:11:28","date_gmt":"2018-08-26T10:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info?p=925"},"modified":"2018-08-26T10:13:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-26T10:13:37","slug":"al-soweifi-abdelaziz-and-ashri-from-the-syndicates-staircase-to-prison-they-defended-jerusalem-so-they-were-arrested-and-charged-with-incitement-to-hatred-a-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/?p=925&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Al-Soweifi, Abdelaziz, and Ashri\u2026 From the syndicate\u2019s staircase to prison: They defended Jerusalem so they were arrested and charged with \u201cIncitement to hatred\u201d. A profile"},"content":{"rendered":"

8 months of detention <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>the<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em> price for defending Jerusalem \u2026 Abdel<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>a<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>ziz\u2019s wife warns about his health deterioration.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Al-Soweifi\u2019s brother launches \u201c<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>Y<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>ou<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>r support<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em> strengthens us\u201d hashtag: it gives him joy to know about your support, and that you\u2019re <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>calling for<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em> his freedom and <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em>that<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em> still remember him.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives him a lot of joy to know that someone is sending his regards, supports him, and demands his freedom<\/i><\/span>\u201d said detained journalist Hossam Al-Soweifi\u2019s brother after his last visit to prison, where Al-Soweifi is detained in the case known <\/span>as<\/span> the \u201cSupport<\/span>ing<\/span> Jerusalem Protest\u201d case, which <\/span>took place <\/span>on the stair<\/span>case<\/span> of the journalists\u2019 syndicate.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The case of “Hossam al-Soweifi, Ahmad Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz and Islam Ashri, goes back to Dec<\/span><\/span>ember<\/span><\/span> 7<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/sup> 2017, when dozens of journalists and political activists sought to organize a protest condemning the United States’ announcement of the transfer of its embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As expected, it did not pass without the usual oppression of journalists, as security forces arrested two journalists at the time; Hossam al-Soweifi and Ahmad Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz, <\/span><\/span>along with<\/span><\/span> political activist “Islam Ashri” member of Bread and Freedom Party, after the security forces surrounded the headquarters of the journalists\u2019 syndicate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Front for the Defense of Journalists and Freedoms then issued a statement:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“The Front for the Defense of Journalists and <\/span><\/span>Freedoms<\/span><\/span> calls for the release of Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz and Soweifi and the Jerusalem detainees.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The journalists were surprised after their protest against the decision of US President Donald Trump to transfer the American Embassy in the capital of the Zionist entity to Jerusalem, that the forces of the Ministry of Interior attacked them to arrest the three <\/span><\/span>of them<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Those measures were repeated, after a statement by the secretary-general of the syndicate, Hatem Zakaria, in which he stressed that the state would take into account the feelings of Egyptians and their anger as a result of the American decision, which did not happen, making the journalists the first prisoners of Jerusalem and the movement expected to defend Palestine.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Front for the Defense of Journalists and Freedoms stressed again on the right to demonstrate as a means of protest and expression, called for the immediate release of colleagues Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz and Soweifi and the rest of the detainees <\/span><\/span>who got arrested against the backdrop of the protest<\/span><\/span>, and<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

also called on the secretary-general and members of the <\/span><\/span>J<\/span><\/span>ournalists <\/span><\/span>S<\/span><\/span>yndicate to intervene to release the two colleagues.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The detained journalists and activist Islam Ashri face charges of “demonstrating without a license, promoting ideas that incite <\/span><\/span>to <\/span><\/span>hatred of the regime, joining a group established contrary to the provisions of the law and the Constitution <\/span><\/span>with the intention of <\/span><\/span>disrupt<\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span> state institutions, and prevent<\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span> them from <\/span><\/span>carrying out<\/span><\/span> their work, and <\/span><\/span>forming <\/span><\/span>a media network loyal to a banned group. “<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ahmed al-Soweifi, Hossam’s brother, said in a previous press statement that he<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Learned that his brother became one of the defendants in case No. 977 of 2017 <\/span><\/span>Supreme S<\/span><\/span>tate <\/span><\/span>S<\/span><\/span>ecurity, which began three months ago and known as “<\/span><\/span>M<\/span><\/span>ekameleen or <\/span><\/span>M<\/span><\/span>ekameleen-II”.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Journalist Ahmed Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz\u2019s wife, then submitted a memorandum to Abdel Mohsen Salama, signed by 15 journalists from the members of the general assembly of the syndicate, demanding that the syndicate intervene<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> for his <\/span><\/span>immediate<\/span><\/span> release especially <\/span><\/span>since<\/span><\/span> the detained journalist suffers from a liver virus and three kidney stones.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The memorandum confirmed that Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> health <\/span><\/span>had deteriorated completely, due to the delay of the removal of stones for a whole month, after doctors had stressed on the need to <\/span><\/span>do<\/span><\/span> the operation as soon as possible, and the detention obstructed that, as well as the interruption of the required periodic examinations, which jeopardize<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> his life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As for political activist Islam Ashri, the Bread and Freedom Party \u2013 under establishment \u2013 <\/span><\/span>criticized <\/span><\/span>the prosecution of demonstrators against the decision of US President Donald Trump to transfer of the embassy of his country to Jerusalem, and the recognition of the capital of the State of Israel.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In a<\/span><\/span> statement issued by the party, at the time of the arrest back in 2017:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“In a procedure which is no longer strange to the Egyptian security <\/span><\/span>forces<\/span><\/span>, Islam who is a member of the party a<\/span><\/span>long with members<\/span><\/span> of the Journalists Syndicate Abdel<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>ziz and Soweifi were arrested against the backdrop of a protest condemning the recent American decision regarding Jerusalem on the stair<\/span><\/span>case<\/span><\/span> of the Journalists Syndicate.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ahmed al-Soweifi, Hossam’s brother, after his visit on Wednesday, August 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span><\/sup>, said that his brother <\/span><\/span>wants the <\/span><\/span>support <\/span><\/span>for <\/span><\/span>the detained journalists <\/span><\/span>to continue <\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span>that<\/span><\/span> proper attention <\/span><\/span>be given <\/span><\/span>to this file. He also launched a hashtag called “your support strengthens us” to emphasize the importance of providing support to detainees.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He <\/span><\/span>highlighted <\/span><\/span>the state of joy and reassurance that Hossam was in when he knew that someone was talking about him, support<\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span> him and <\/span><\/span>calling for<\/span><\/span> his freedom.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

150 days after the arrest of <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>colleagues, the Criminal Court, began looking into the renewal of the detention every 45 days, until it was decided that looking into their case was set to be on Saturday, August 4<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/sup>, however, their transfer could not be processed for security reasons the day before due to <\/span><\/span>coinciding with<\/span><\/span> the consideration of the “<\/span><\/span>Dispersal of<\/span><\/span> Rab<\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span>a” case.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 months of detention the price for defending Jerusalem \u2026 Abdelaziz\u2019s wife warns about his health deterioration. Al-Soweifi\u2019s brother launches \u201cYour support strengthens us\u201d hashtag: it gives him joy to know about your support, and that you\u2019re calling for his freedom and that still remember him. \u201cIt gives him a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"labor":[],"years":[],"class_list":["post-925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prisoner-of-conscience"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=925"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=925"},{"taxonomy":"labor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Flabor&post=925"},{"taxonomy":"years","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fyears&post=925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}