On Tuesday, the Children’s Court in Egypt sentenced blogger Suzy Ayman (known as “Jordanian Suzy”) to two years in prison and fined her 300,000 on charges of “violating family values. ” The decision is still preliminary and will surely be reduced to other levels of litigation, but it comes within a series of legal decisions that have recently affected several media influencers social on charges of publishing obscene videos that “promote immorality and prostitution.
The ruling that affected the Egyptian blogger came as a result of a report filed against her by lawyer Ayman Mahfouz, accusing her of offending public decency, going on against family values, and using social networking sites to publish inappropriate content.
Cleaning society with “reports”
This was not the only complaint that Mahfouz filed against various social media influencers, but it was one of dozens of complaints that affected several actors and singers as part of what Mahfouz called it “a campaign to purify society. “
“After 2011, I decided to support the state and its institutions because of the plot against us,” Mahfouz began his interview with the Al-Hurra website, justifying the reasons for who filed this number of complaints against a large number of people himself saying, “We are not lawyers, as they say against us, but we seek the law to implement.”
Cases of “contempt of religions” and “immorality” in Egypt…prohibition of freedom or protection of society?
The issues facing Egyptian bloggers have brought back a recurring debate in Egyptian society regarding laws that some believe are “restrictions on freedom of expression.”
Among the most famous victims of “Mahfouz Reports,” among the influencers of “Tik Tok,” are the two girls, Mawaddah Al-Adham and Haneen Hossam, who were sentenced to prison in 2021 and fined accusations of “contrary to values” They also include the opposition novelist Alaa Al-Aswany, who was legally prosecuted in 2019. – Based on Ayman’s report – on charges of “insulting on the president.
Mahfouz’s desire to preserve what he describes as “family values” doesn’t stop at persecuting individuals, but also extends to smartphone applications , after submitting two consecutive reports calling for the banning of young people from the game “Gatta” on the grounds that it encourages. young people to attack police headquarters and block the application “Tik Tok” “As part of a foreign conspiracy against Egypt, according to his description.
In submitting these reports, the Egyptian lawyer relies on Article 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that “any person who has knowledge of the the occurrence of a crime where the Public Finance can file a case to notify the prosecution or one of the judges. police officers about it.”
“The authorities do not care about some of these reports, but the media is interested in them in the end, the investigating authorities will not decide to turn the report into a case until the be sure of the truth of the allegations. ” Mahfouz explained to the Al-Hurra website.
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The prison sentences of two Egyptian women, followed by large numbers of people on the social networking sites TikTok and Likee, on human trafficking charges have raised concerns among human rights defenders who say the allegations are baseless and shows a more intense crack on the internet. freedom
Relying on this article, Mahfouz sent dozens of legal warnings to Musicians and Professional Syndicates to take action against what he considered to be “crimes” committed by actors and musicians most prominently. among them was the artist Mohamed Ramadan, who opposed Mahfouz with the lyrics of one of his songs, which he considered “offensive.”
Mahfouz explains: “If it is not known who the artist has been complained about, it is cancelled, but if it is a famous star, Ashraf Zaki, the head of the Actors Syndicate, will ‘ ignores the warnings and then says he will take the matter forward. investigation.”
The Egyptian lawyer does not believe that such actions are a threat to freedom of expression and creativity in Egypt, saying that there is a big difference between freedom of expression and freedom of crime when the artist Elham Shaheen appears protecting sexual relations without marriage, this is not an opinion, but that it is an encouragement to immorality, and encourages prostitution.
He explains: “These are the elite of society and people imitate them in their behavior when the artist Mohamed Ramadan glorifies bullying in films, young people follow his example, so they must obey the law.
UNHCR is the solution
“This kind of case creates a protection over the society and reminds us of the old cases of Hisbah, which came to excommunicate some people and separate them from their wives,” this is how Egyptian lawyer Intisar Al-Saeed, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, began her interview with the Al-Hurra TV website.
1994 saw a case that deeply disturbed Egyptian public opinion after Cairo University art professor Nasr Hamid Abu Zeid presented some of his research on Islamic law to a university committee to discuss the his request for an increase in charges of blasphemy leaked to the media, and became a matter of public opinion that ended in a blasphemy ruling and ended his marriage to Dr. Ibtihal Abu Zaid.
The Egyptian lawyer does not see any disagreement between what is currently happening in the courts and these cases, stressing that it is “an extension of the state of protection of individuals” ‘ in them. If I like your ideas, I will believe you and put you in jail.
She believed that the main reason for these practices was the desire of some lawyers to seek fame in order to attract more clients to their offices. they play a role in protecting society by organizing what they call “organizations for the promotion of good and the prevention of abuse” within Egyptian society.
Intisar Al-Saeed denied the legal charge brought against the Egyptian actress Elham Shaheen after she declared that she supports homosexuality (having sexual relations before marriage i), says: “Is homosexuality a crime? The law punishes sex for sex.” Wager, this is a claim even against the law.
The human rights lawyer criticized the widespread legal prosecution of individuals on vague charges such as “demolishing Egypt’s family values.” ” She said: “These values vary from city to city, from family to family, and from one social class to another. How can they be a clear standard?!”
She continues that when actresses at the El Gouna Festival wear sexual clothing, they are not accused, unlike what happens when middle-class girls do the same, and as then the question must be related to the social aspect, because the more the girl is from her poor social class, the greater the chance to take care of her.
Regarding whether Egypt needs to develop the “legislative structure” that allows it to issue these decisions, Intisar stressed, “Of course we have a problem with the misuse of the laws that allow the this kind of notice to follow everything that is different. “
An Egyptian human rights activist believed that this “legislative deficiency” goes against the constitution, which specifies the principle of equality between citizens and the duty to protect them from all kinds of discrimination and incitement to hatred.
Intisar, for example, cited the legal decisions that prosecuted several “bloggers”, stressing that they were providing “derogatory” content, but that was not a justification for imprisoning them for long years.
“Every photo can lead to jail time.” The sword of “family values” threatens the freedom of Egyptian women
The arrest of a Tik Tok girl after she took a video clip and took pictures near an archaeological site, while wearing Pharaonic-themed clothing, which was described as “deceptive”, prompted a major controversy in Egypt and raised questions about the status of women’s rights in Egypt.
Intisar Al-Saeed believed that the best solution to face this problem is to implement the text of Article 53 of the current constitution, which orders the establishment of an Independent Commission to Combat its -all kinds of discrimination.
Although 10 years have passed since the adoption of this constitution, this commission has not yet been established, and during the sessions of the national dialogue that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi requested held between the various political and social forces in Egypt from April 2022, the call was renewed to launch this commission, which requires a law issued by the House of Representatives.
Amazing with everyone
As for Rasha Sabry, a lawyer specializing in family matters, she criticized both parties while talking to the Al-Hurra website, after considering that both parties (lawyers and -effect) trying to create “deliberate chaos” to draw people’s attention to them and act as a “movement.”
Rasha refuses to prosecute famous people for the views they expressed to the media, no matter how different they are from the convictions of many people. and another who tries to move and encourage people to something that is against the religion and the customs of the society, but in reality they both receive the same punishment.”
The Egyptian lawyer explained that what worries her the most about these conflicts are the girls who have been sentenced to prison. deeply rooted social order to fine them and put them in correctional programs, but imprisoning a girl at the age of 17 “It’s hard.”
After Haneen Hosam.. the Egyptian “Tik Tok girl” was arrested for “promoting immorality”
After the Egyptian student Haneen Hossam was arrested for posting video clips that were considered “offensive,” the Egyptian authorities arrested another girl in a suburb of Cairo on Thursday night for reasons similar to him.
2024-10-03 18:55:21
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