A New Strain of Dictatorship in Egypt
April 29, 2014
In yet another stain on Egypt’s supposed democratic transition, 683 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death on Monday following a farcical trial that lacked even a hint of due process. More than 1,200 people have now been sentenced to death or life imprisonment for the alleged murder of two policemen. Meanwhile, the police and other security forces have been free to pursue their violent rampage against political dissent with almost complete impunity.
The death sentences were not Monday’s only outrage, however. Another Egyptian court helped finish off political pluralism in the country when it banned the April 6 movement, one of the prodemocracy groups that catalyzed the February 2011 uprising against longtime authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak. Both Islamist and secular opposition are now effectively criminalized.
Indeed, these latest actions by the Egyptian authorities cap 10 months of brutal crackdowns, first on the supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi—most notably in the August massacre of more than 700 protesters—but gradually on anyone who dared to question the post-coup government. Liberal political activists, Coptic Christians, journalists, artists, and others have all been treated as outlaws as the military-backed administration marches relentlessly forward in what it claims is a fight against terrorism.
http://freedomhouse.org/blog/new-strain-dictatorship-egypt#.U2A4_ShlfzA
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