[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Political Rights
10 rights organizations launch new campaign in support of Egypt`s political prisoners A number of human rights organizations launched the new Voices Behind Bars campaign on Wednesday in support of Egypt’s political prisoners. The campaign coincides with the second anniversary of the start of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidency.
Prosecution appeals release of researcher, rights activist Mina Thabet Shortly after rights activist and researcher Mina Thabet was ordered to be released on 10,000 LE bail, Egypt`s prosecution appealed the decision, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms reported on Sunday.
45-day detention renewed for Doctors Syndicate activist Taher Mokhtar A Cairo court renewed the detention of Doctors Syndicate member Taher Mokhtar and two of his roommates for forty-five days pending investigations on Sunday, according to a statement by the Voices Behind Bars campaign.
I long for freedom Zizo Abdo releases a prison letter reflecting on the suffocating situation of his political imprisonment. Abdo has been imprisoned pending investigations in a case in which he is charged with belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, conspiring to overthrow the regime and calling for unlawful protests.
International organizations demand Malek Adly’s release Several international organizations and Florence’s city council have called for the release of lawyer Malek Adly and an end to the intimidation he has faced in prison.
Egypt’s prison authority to release 110 inmates, months after Sisi’s pardon Egypt’s prison authority granted 110 inmates amnesty for the rest of their prison terms and paroled 139 others, the interior ministry said on Thursday.
Egyptian court acquits another batch of islands protesters An Egyptian court acquitted on Monday fifty-one persons of charges pertaining to protests held in April against the president’s decision to transfer two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi control.
Egypt’s activists campaign against solitary confinement A campaign against solitary confinement has been gaining momentum on social media as more prisoners have been subjected to the punishment in Egypt’s prisons.
Rights groups demand end to interrogation of judges working on anti-torture bill A number of rights organizations and political parties demanded an end to the interrogation of two judges and a lawyer who worked on an anti-torture bill.
Trial of press syndicate head, two senior members adjourned to June 25 Qasr al-Nil misdemeanor court adjourned the second trial of head of press syndicate and two senior syndicate board members accused of harboring fugitives, to 25 June.
Request issued to freeze assets of Andalus Institute for Tolerance, latest target of foreign funding case A Cairo court has issued a request to freeze the assets of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies, an independent research institution that aims to eliminate discrimination in Egypt, pending investigations into receiving foreign funding and defaming Egypt’s image abroad.
Egypt court to rule on validity of controversial islands agreement on Jun. 21 Egypt’s administrative court postponed on Tuesday the trial over the controversial demarcation agreement that stipulates the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia to 21 June to issue the verdict.
Court postpones trial of 67 defendants involved in top prosecutor`s assassination Egypt’s Cairo Criminal Court adjourned on Tuesday the trial of sixty-seven defendants accused of killing the former top prosecutor Hisham Barakat to 13 July.
Parliamentary committee passes amendment allowing president to form Supreme Press Council The Egyptian Parliament’s culture and media committee approved an amendment to Egypt`s press law on Tuesday, which will permit President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to form the next Supreme Press Council.
MPs, Justice Ministry face off over contempt of religion article Members of Parliament and the Justice Ministry are going head-to-head over Article 98 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes contempt of religion, as some MPs push to void the article on the grounds that it violates freedom of expression.
Morsi sentenced to life in prison, 6 sentenced to death in Qatar espionage case Former President Mohamed Morsi was sentenced to life in prison for leaking national security secrets to Qatar. Morsi’s personal secretary, Amin al-Serafy, and his office manager, Ahmed Abdel Aty, were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
Court extends detention of health minister`s advisor on corruption charges An Egyptian court extended on Thursday the detention of an advisor to the health minister for fifteen days pending investigation on charges of receiving a bribe.
Egyptian investigators say EgyptAir black box will broadcast until June 24, USA to join the search The black boxes aboard downed EgyptAir flight MS804 should continue to broadcast signals until 24 June, the Egyptian commission investigating the crash said in a Monday statement.
Update: Second black box found from flight MS804 wreckage The crew of the specialist vessel John Lethbridge has found EgyptAir flight MS804’s second black box, according to a statement issued by Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry.
Egypt`s top prosecutor heads to Cyprus to discuss extradition of plane hijacker Egypt`s top prosecutor Nabil Sadek flew Wednesday to Cyprus to discuss the extradition of an Egyptian man who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight and redirected it to the Mediterranean island last March.
Giulio Regeni`s parents ask European Parliament to take severe measures against Egypt The parents of slain Italian student Giulio Regeni appeared before the European Parliament on Wednesday, calling on its members to push Egypt to conduct a transparent investigation into his murder.
Teacher referred to interrogation for demanding educational reform Teacher and syndicate leader Ayman al-Bily was referred to interrogation last week for writing articles critical of Egypt’s education minister and government education policies.
Egyptian high school students protest outside education ministry over exam leaks A group of high school students organized protests in Cairo and Alexandria against Education Minister al-Hilali al-Sherbini on Monday, calling for his dismissal over recent leaks of high school exam papers.
Economy
Report: Egypt world’s 4th-largest arms importer in 2015 Despite its ailing economy and expanding fiscal deficit, Egypt upped its spending on military imports to 2.268 billion USD in 2015, making it the world’s fourth-largest defense importer, global analysis firm IHS Inc. reported Monday.
Amid soaring inflation, Central Bank of Egypt raises interest rates The Central Bank of Egypt raised benchmark interest rates by 100 basis points on Thursday, bringing its overnight deposit rate to 11.75 percent, its overnight lending rate to 12.75 percent and its main operations rate to 12.25 percent.
Higher interest rates threaten possibility of new investments in Egypt Investors have said that the Central Bank of Egypt`s decision to raise interest rates by 100 basis points will have a negative impact on the cost of loans, which is one of the factors affecting investment attractions.
Egypt`s illicit currency traders defy crackdown, spread business abroad Egypt`s efforts to stamp out illicit currency trading is pushing black market dealers to carry out transactions abroad, beyond the reach of the law, robbing the economy of its last vital source of foreign currency.
Egypt`s Suez Canal charging VLCCs coming from the Arabian Gulf $155,000 Egypt`s Suez Canal Authority has set new toll rates for oil tankers as part of a six-month experiment that came into effect on Thursday, it said on its website.
Foreign Relations
Egypt`s Foreign Ministry condemns deadly attack on gay nightclub in Orlando Egypt`s Foreign Ministry condemned the fatal mass shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which left fifty people dead on Sunday, in a statement published on its Facebook page.
Egypt critcises Qatari statements on espionage case verdict Egypt`s foreign ministry criticized on Sunday the Qatari statement that condemned the verdict issued on Saturday against former president Mohamed Morsi and ten others in the case dubbed as "Qatar espionage case."
Shukri discusses islands agreement, Ethiopia dam and terrorism Egypt’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that the future of the maritime border demarcation agreement signed with Saudi Arabia is dependent on the parliament`s decision after its review.
Egyptian-European attempts to revive French peace initiative continue The past few days have witnessed diplomatic efforts in Egypt to revive the French initiative to promote peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt, Palestine discuss maritime border demarcation There are ongoing discussions between Egypt and Palestine regarding the demarcation of the maritime border between the two countries, an official in the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
Domestic Security
Policeman killed, another injured in Sinai explosion A policeman was killed and another injured on Sunday in a road-side bomb explosion in central Sinai, said Egypt`s interior ministry.
Masked gunmen kill 2 policemen in Egypt`s Sinai - interior ministry Two Egyptian policemen were killed by gunmen on Thursday morning in the city of al-Arish in Egypt`s North Sinai province, the interior ministry said in a statement.