Egypt begins rounding up dissidents under new terror law
Under the new anti-terror law issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, several young Egyptians have already been arrested and could face sentences of 10 years in prison or even death.
CAIRO — While the ink on Egypt’s new counterterrorism law was still drying, security forces had already begun rounding up suspects to prosecute with it. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued the law Aug. 15. Exactly one week later, on Aug. 22, police in the southern governorate of Sohag arrested three men for allegedly posting Islamic State propaganda on Facebook.
The men, the youngest of whom is 16, face charges of propagating jihadist ideology and communicating with a terrorist network, crimes punishable by 10 years in prison at best — and the death penalty at worst — under Article 12 of the new law.
