Wide Arrests in Egypt Signal No-Tolerance Policy on Critics

Egyptians shout slogans against Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during a protest against the decision to hand over control of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia in front of the Press Syndicate, in Cairo, Egypt, on April 15, 2016. AP Photo/Amr Nabil

CAIRO—Hours after marching in a peaceful protest against the government late last month, Yassin Mohammed and his friends were lingering in the area in a district of the Egyptian capital when police descended on them, piled them into a minibus and took them to a police station. There, he said, he was blindfolded, handcuffed and beaten by security agents.

Now the 21-year-old Mohammed, released on bail, faces trial on charges of breaking a 2013 law that virtually bans any street demonstrations. He knows how heavy the penalty can be. Two years ago, he was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison for joining protests—and he said he nearly committed suicide in his cell out of despair until a fellow inmate stopped him.

Mohammed is among those caught up in one of the biggest waves of arrests in the past two years in Egypt, a sweep that signals a fierce zero-tolerance stance by the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi over any sign of unrest.

Egyptian photojournalists raise their cameras during a demonstration outside the Syndicate headquarters in Cairo on May 3, 2016 on the occasion of World Press Freedom day, a day after police stormed the headquarters of the journalists' association and arrested two journalists. Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images