Egypt on Monday renewed the detention of the prominent economist Abdel Khalek Farouk for another 15 days, intensifying a broader crackdown on dissent under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi‘s regime.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged Farouk with “joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and information, misusing social media platforms, and disseminating provocative and false information and statements against the state, its leaders, and its president.”
The accusations stem from the publication of 40 articles by Farouk, in which he appeared to be critical of the economic policies of Sisi’s government.
The State Security prosecutors heard his team’s requests for his release, including appeals due to his deteriorating health, arguing that there was no justification for pretrial detention.
They also pointed out that the 67-year-old posed no flight risk and had a fixed and known residence.
Farouk himself addressed the prosecution of his deteriorating health, explaining that he had suffered two heart attacks in the past week and nearly lost his life as a result.
The economist requested to be transferred to Qasr Al-Ainy Hospital for medical treatment and direct supervision of his health condition at his own expense.
The defence also made the case that none of the charges levelled against Farouk stood up to scrutiny, with there being no evidence or proof of a criminal act having been presented by the state.
The State Security prosecution denied all of these requests, making the argument that Farouk’s articles critical of Sisi were evidence enough to detain and charge him.
Farouk was arrested from his home by security forces following the recent publication of articles on his personal Facebook page, most of which were critical of Sisi and his economic policies.Â
Titles of the articles that promoted his arrest included ‘General Sisi… The Theft of the Century – The Administrative Capital as a Model’, ‘Did General Sisi Receive Payment for His Stance on the Gaza Holocaust? and ‘Seizing State Land and Treating It as a Private Estate without Oversight or Accountability’.Â
Farouk is a widely renowned economist and researcher, distinguished for his significant contributions to the study and analysis of economic issues in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region. The economist is well-known for his criticisms of economic policies and his radically liberal stances on economic and social issues.
In 2018, he was first arrested and subject to an 8-hour interrogation by the Sisi regime due to the publication of his book ‘Is Egypt Really a Poor Country’, but he was eventually released without charge after 15 days in detention.
Sisi introduced a raft of laws since he came to power in a coup against Egypt’s only ever democratically elected president, with a significant crackdown on freedom of expression in the country.
Any critical reporting of the government, the army or Sisi himself are considered crimes, some of which are punishable by death.Â
Amnesty International has characterised the Sisi regime as waging a “relentless war” on journalists, with over 52 arrested since 2018 and 18 remaining in prison, only six of whom have faced trial. The charges and trials are widely considered by rights groups to be shams, with the intent of shutting down even the most tepid criticism of the regime.Â
