Court Restores Voting Rights for Convicted Activist

Court Restores Voting Rights for Convicted Activist Islamist Militant Adel Habara Sentenced to Death 15 Sudanese Migrants Killed in Political Cartoon of the Day: Drowning in Corruption Top Stories Court Restores Voting Rights for Lawyer An administrative court ruled that activist and lawyer Yara Sallam cannot legally be denied her right to vote. Sallam was sentenced to two years in prison for her participation in a protest outside of the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace in June 2014, but was released as part of a presidential pardon this September. When she attempted to look up her polling location for the parliamentary elections, she realized that she had been removed from the voter registry. Egyptian law takes away political rights such as voting from citizens who commit certain felonies. However, as Sallam was convicted of a misdemeanor, the administrative court ruled that her removal from the registry was unlawful and unconstitutional. In related news, an administrative court set January 17 as the verdict date for the lawsuit against activist . The lawsuit aims to strip Ghonim of his Egyptian citizenship for being an “agent.” Ghonim was the administrator for the “We Are All Khaled Said” group, which stood in solidarity with Khaled Said who died after being beaten in police custody. The Facebook group called for the protests that sparked the January 25, 2011 revolution. Ghonim was arrested in the first few days of the uprising and detained for 12 days. Some Egyptian media claimed that he was backed by foreign entities and tried to discredit him. The State Commissioners Authority claimed that only the Egyptian Cabinet has the authority to strip someone of his citizenship. back to top

Islamist Militant Adel Habara Sentenced to Death A retrial for the killing of 25 soldiers in North Sinai’s Rafah in August 2013 concluded with a death sentence verdict for militant Adel Habara and six others on Saturday. Three other defendants in the case were sentenced to life in prison and a further 22 defendants received 15 years in a high security prison. The final three defendants were acquitted. The defense team filed an appeal in the original sentencing, in which Habara was also sentenced to death. The defendants were charged with committing terrorist acts and collaborating with al-Qaeda. This verdict can also be appealed, as death sentences can be appealed twice according to Egyptian law. Habara has been sentenced to death for crimes in several other cases, including murdering a police officer and contacting Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. In related news, on Monday, the interior ministry arrested nine middle-ranking members in a “preemptive security campaign” in addition to seven other members, according to a statement from the ministry. Also on Monday, Emad al-Mahdy, a member of the Salafi al-Nour Party who is running as a Nour Party candidate in the parliamentary elections was stabbed outside of his campaign headquarters in the Sharqiya governorate. The attacker fled and has not been identified; al-Mahdy was rushed a hospital in nearby Zagazig city. This instance is the third attack against a Nour Party candidate during the parliamentary election process. back to top

15 Sudanese Migrants Killed in Egypt reported that Egyptian border guards killed 15 Sudanese migrants as they attempted to cross the border into Israel on Sunday. According to state- run Ahram Online, the migrants were found and had been ‘shot dead,’ but the responsible party has not yet been identified. Aswat Masriya reported that the circumstances of their death are still unclear. An anonymous source stated that security fired warning shots in the air, which the migrants responded to with gunfire. The migrants were potentially caught in the crossfire between security forces and Bedouin traffickers, according to an Associated Press source. Wounded migrants are now being interrogated about the incident. In 2008, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report stating that Egyptian border police use ‘lethal force’ against migrants and urged Egypt to stop this ‘shoot to stop’ policy. HRW also noted that since 2010, migrants from Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea have been kidnapped, tortured, and sold in North Sinai. back to top

Political Cartoon of the Day: Drowning in Corruption

“Corruption” Source: @abdalla_cartoon, , 11/15/2015 back to top Also Worth Reading

Egyptian Leaders Blame a Familiar Foe, Conspiracy, but Citizens Are DubiousDavid K. Kirkpatrick New York Times

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