Laila Soueif, mother of British citizen Alaa Abdel Fattah, a writer, software developer and prominent pro-democracy activist jailed by Egypt’s authoritarian regime for most of the last ten years, will be organising regular protests outside Downing Street from 13 January. Alaa’s case has hit the news in recent months as his family have stepped up…
Prominent cartoonists in Britain have rallied behind Ashraf Omar, the Egyptian cartoonist seized by police from his home in a dawn raid on 22 July. Steve Bell, Martin Rowson, Andy Davey, Dave Brown and Tim Sanders launched a call for Omar’s release in an open letter published by MENA Solidarity on 4 August. Our colleague…
Cartoonist Ashraf Omar was seized from his home by Egyptian police early on 22 July and taken away to an unknown destination, his wife told independent news website Mada Masr. Colleagues at the independent website where he worked, al-Manassa, are calling on the Egyptian Journalists’ Union to demand his immediate release. Nora Younis, al-Manassa’s editor…
Update 25 April: all the detainees have been released on bail, but the charges have not been dropped On Tuesday 23 April, Egyptian security forces forcibly dispersed a protest in solidarity with the women of Gaza and Sudan, held outside the headquarters of the UN Women’s regional office in Maadi, Cairo. In the process, they…
By Miriam Scharf The United Arab Emirates is the 19th richest country the world, with GDP of US$44,000 a head, mostly generated from oil exports. The UAE is able to produce oil cheaply, its oil industry is likely to be viable for a long time, and this is the government’s stated intention. COP28’s president-designate Sultan…
Moroccan youth and feminist activists are appealing for international solidarity with Fadila al-Makhloufi, a member of Al-Mussawah (Equality) feminist group and the Youth Challenge Movement after her arrest and detention on 22 October. Fadila was interrogated by the Royal Gendarmerie and investigated by the General Prosecutor in Tinghir, in the south east of Morocco in…
By Shelagh Smith On 15 September an appeal court in Algiers sentenced journalist Khaled Drareni to a two-year prison sentence over his coverage of the Hirak protest movement. Two activists, Samir Benlarbi and Slimane Hamitouche, were each sentenced to a year in prison, eight months of which were suspended, in the same sham trial. The…
Human rights lawyer Mahienour el-Masry is one of hundreds who have been arrested in recent days, as part of an escalating crackdown in response to protests in a number of Egyptian cities demanding the resignation of Egyptian president Abdelfattah al-Sisi. According to reports from a friend who was speaking to her on the telephone during…
By Anne Alexander As millions take to the streets on Friday 20 September for the global Climate Strike, activists in Algeria are gearing up for another Friday mobilisation. For the 31st time since February, tens of thousands are expected to march under the slogan “Système dégage!” (Down with the regime!) to demand an end to…
Sheila Amrouche interviewed Henia Sadi, a teacher at a local high school in the Kabylia region of Algeria during a visit in July 2019. Henia has been active in the weekly protests which have led to the forced resignation of President Bouteflika, and which have progressed on to the demand for an end to the…
MENA Solidarity Network 