Egypt: Release of Ramy Shaath, figure of the 2011 revolution.

Ramy Shaath, the figure of the Egyptian spring of 2011, incarcerated since 2019 for

, was released Monday evening, according to AFP citing a judicial source.

His wife and French national, Cécile Lebrun, was informed of the decision, but indicated that her husband was not yet out, adding that he will issue

.

Son of Palestinian statesman Nabil Shaath, Ramy Shaath is an architect of the Egyptian revolution of 2011, as well as an opponent of the brief Muslim Brotherhood regime, and that of current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

He also fought for an economic boycott of Israel due to the occupation of Palestinian land, launching the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) movement in Egypt.

Expulsion of his French wife

The left-wing activist was arrested in the middle of the night, on July 5, 2019, after a dozen men were raided at his home, and placed directly in detention.

recalls Cécile Lebrun. Two vans were waiting for them at the bottom of their home: one leading the dissident in pre-trial detention, the other taking the Frenchwoman to the airport. She was deported the next morning to Paris.

Ramy Shaath was prosecuted for

and

".

Cécile Lebrun denies the accusations of a link between her husband and the organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.

She presumes that his arrest is mainly due to the strong criticism he voiced a few days earlier against Egyptian officials.

He denounced the participation of Egyptian representatives present alongside Israel at a conference planned by former US President Donald Trump as part of his

in the Middle East.

Rudimentary conditions of detention

The arrest of Ramy Shaath is not a singular incident. Condemnations of human rights violations by the Egyptian authorities have been expressed at several levels. There are more than 60,000 political opponents in detention, according to several NGOs. Amnesty International goes so far as to describe Egypt as

. Some states have even sanctioned the al-Sisi regime, notably the United States, which has frozen 10% of its aid.

Cécile Lebrun as well as several NGOs have been alerted several times to the French authorities on the detention of opponents of the Egyptian regime. Ramy Shaath is imprisoned in more than rudimentary conditions: suffering from an ulcer and high cholesterol, he has no adequate medical care and shares his 25 square meter cell with 17 other detainees.

During his meeting with Egyptian leader al-Sisi on December 7, 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed to have looked into the case of the Egyptian-Palestinian dissident: “

. However, since Egypt is considered a strategic ally of France against terrorism in the Middle East, no French sanctions have been taken against this country.

This explosion of repression in Egypt follows the coming to power of Marshal al-Sisi. Elected president by more than 90% of the votes in 2014 and 2018, he succeeds Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected Egyptian leader from the Muslim Brotherhood movement. It was the latter who placed Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in charge of the Egyptian Ministry of Defense in August 2012. In a tense socio-economic climate, Mohamed Morsi faces criticism accusing him of wanting to Islamize Egypt . The army overthrew him on July 3, 2013, the day of his arrest.

The same year, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi took the head of the country.

His government is organizing a heavy-handed crackdown on pro-Morsi supporters, killing more than 700, and the Muslim Brotherhood, now classified as a terrorist organization, is declared illegal.

Subsequently, the new regime widened the stifling of opposition to left-wing and secular activists.