Egyptian Government Continues its Crackdown of Free Speech

Yesterday, I spoke about Mona Eltahawy’s New York Times article on the Egyptian government’s crackdown against atheism and atheists in Egypt. Sadly, the Egyptian government is cracking down on those who speak anything that might be seen as against Islam. Today, there is an article in Reuters (through Yahoo) by Mahmoud Mourad in which he explains that ” A prominent Egyptian poet could face up to three years in jail over a Facebook post in which she criticized the slaughter of animals at a Muslim festival, a case which rights activists say shows how the government is muzzling free speech” (Mourad, 2015). According to his report, Egyptian poet Fatima Naoot “criticized the sacrifice of animals at Eid al-Adha, also called the Feast of the Sacrifice, a festival that honors Abraham’s willingness to obey God. “Millions of innocent creatures will be driven to the most horrible massacre committed by humans for ten-and-a-half centuries,” she said. “A massacre which is repeated every year because of the nightmare of a righteous man about his good son”” (Mourad, 2015). 

Her trial is set to begin Wednesday.

This is yet another worrying development in Egypt, one in which the government, under Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has attempted to repress the rights of anyone that is seen as saying anything counter to Islam. Attention must be brought to these developments. El-Sisi should not in any way violate the rights of Egyptians; they should be free to speak their mind on issues as they please. 

Hopefully Naoot will not be found guilty by the courts, and will be released. The Egyptian government should not even be taking her to trial; that alone is a gross violation of fundamental human rights.