Middle East & Africa | Too many prisoners to count

Egypt locks up “terrorists”, but won’t say which terror group they belong to

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi calls for “dialogue” with critics

CAIRO, EGYPT - FEBRUARY 23: Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, one of the 25 detained activists of January 25 Revolution in Egypt, stands behind bars with fellow defendants during their verdict at the Cairo Police Academy in Cairo, Egypt on February 23, 2015. An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah to five years behind bars along with 24 others who received jail terms of varying length for staging an unlicensed street demonstration. (Photo by Mohamed Mahmoud/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Jul 18th 2022

It was hard to believe. At an annual breakfast gala in April near the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi suddenly wanted to hold talks with his downtrodden opponents. “The homeland is big enough for all of us,” he said. “Differences of opinion need not spoil it.” To show goodwill he revived a presidential pardons committee. Several thousand ordinary prisoners were freed but very few political ones. All the same, not since toppling an Islamist government in a coup in 2013 has the former general struck so conciliatory a tone.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Too many to count”