Egypt's Freedom Of Repression
The freedom of expression promised by the Egyptian revolution has given way to repression and muzzling of the media.
Last updated: 28 Dec 2014 13:32
In December 2011, the glimmer of hope that would spark revolutions across the Arab world was ignited in Tunisia. While Tunisians have managed to take advantage of the past four years to set in motion a process of rapid democratisation, other countries in the region have not been so fortunate.
Egypt has been unfortunate to see each change in leadership come with a "winner takes all" confrontational and combative attitude. As we approach the fourth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, the high hopes of "bread, freedom and social justice" seem as far away as ever.
In addition to the nose-diving economy, which has been kept afloat since 2011 through the largesse of the Gulf allies of the moment, this regression has been felt acutely and painfully in the area of freedom of expression, particularly for the media.
While the revolutionaries of the Republic of Tahrir had dreamt briefly of an Egypt that would be a beacon of freedom, the only thing that seems free these days is the value of human dignity. The counterrevolution - which began with the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, when the regime amputated its head to keep its body intact - seems to be reaching an end goal of sorts, through a process of heavy-handed crackdowns and co-optation.
Declining freedom of speech
In terms of repression, 2014 has been a particularly harsh year, in which Egypt found itself in the uncoveted top 10 jailers of journalists published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Like Al Jazeera's Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste, many of the imprisoned journalists listed by CPJ are accused of having links to the previous regime of Mohamed Morsi. These include members of the highly influential citizenship journalism site Rassd News Network (RNN), which is affiliated with or at least sympathetic to the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
more...
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/12/egypt-freedom-repression-2014122883332498794.html
