Egypt: Mohamed Ali, exiled entrepreneur, sentenced to life imprisonment for his opposition to regime

Living in Spain since 2018, the latter had been behind demonstrations against President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in September 2019, thanks to his videos broadcast online where he denounced the corruption of the regime.

MO12345LEMONDE With AFP

He had become in 2019 the first enemy of the Egyptian regime. A military court of the country sentenced Mohamed Ali, famous businessman living in exile on Sunday, January 15, according to state media.

Entrepreneur in the building and actor, Mohamed Ali became known in 2019 via videos that have become viral on social networks. He accused the country’s president and military elite there. Shot since his Spanish exile, these videos had led, at the end of September of the same year, to rare events bringing together hundreds of people in Cairo and in several other cities in the country.

After these rallies, 4,000 people had been arrested, the worst wave of repression since the election of Mr. Sissi in 2014, according to NGOs. Following these events, Mohamed Ali said he was hunted down and threatened, even if he was abroad.

on the blacklist of the diet

aged 48, the man who has lived in exile in Barcelona since 2018 was sentenced by the regime to life imprisonment with 37 co -accused. Several dozens of other people have been sentenced to sentences ranging from five to fifteen years in prison, specifies the official press.

In addition, the businessman was placed, according to local media, on the black list of “terrorists” which means that it is prohibited from travel and that his assets in Egypt are frozen.

This blacklist is one of the regime’s tactics to prevent opponents from leaving the country, regularly accuse human rights defenders.

In Egypt, the judgments of the exceptional courts, generally in charge of “terrorism” cases, cannot be subject to calls. If Mr. Ali, who lives in Spain, does not go to Egypt, he might not suffer from these decisions. 2> more than 65,000 political prisoners in Egypt

The Egyptian regime is constantly pointed out for its more than 65,000 political detainees, according to NGOs, its muzzle of the press and social networks as well as its relentless repression of any form of opposition, from Islamists to liberals .

demonstrating in Egypt is thus almost impossible according to the law, making the parades very rare. But in 2019, Mr. Ali had managed to mobilize troops at a distance after a very strong first devaluation of the currency in 2016, which had greatly affected the population and increased dissatisfaction with the regime of Mr. Sissi.

/Media reports cited above.