Shawkan

A Missed Opportunity to Help Shawkan?

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

On Tuesday, eight TDs from the Dáil Éireann, Ireland’s lower house in its legislature, visited a young man who was arrested in Egypt in August 2013 and has been held in prison ever since: Ibrahim Halawa. The TDs also met with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who told them that he could not intervene on behalf of the young prisoner, but that upon the conclusion of his trial Halawa would be free to return to Ireland.

Ibrahim Halawa is a citizen of Ireland, born there in 1995 and raised there. His family is Egyptian, and he and his sisters traveled to Egypt in the summer of 2013 and took part in the protests riling that nation that summer. The previous president, Mohamed Morsi, had been kicked out of office in a coup, and everyday citizens who support democracy joined with Morsi’s supporters and with actual members of his political party, the Muslim Brotherhood, in the street protests.
Read More

On to 2017 for Shawkan

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* * * *
The ordeal that the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) has endured since 2013 will continue into 2017, it was learned earlier today at a hearing of the Cairo Criminal Court in Egypt. The next hearing for the 700-plus defendants arrested in August 2013 in the round-up of a sit-it is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, January 17.

At court today, ten defendants were ordered to be released for health reasons, but Shawkan was not among them. His family reports that his health is deteriorating.

The photo at top was taken by the photojournalist Mohamed El Raai today. The new year merely brings a continuation of a long story.

Shawkan’s story is one of the denial of basic human rights by a nation allied with Western governments, but it also has been a story of many citizens stepping up and making certain that Shawkan’s story is heard. Both stories are worth knowing.

For those unaware of Shawkan’s story, I wrote the following background article:
Read More

For Shawkan, the Nightmare Continues

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* * * *
In a courtroom near Cairo, Egypt, earlier today (December 10), the case of photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) was adjourned once again, this time until Tuesday, December 27.

Today is International Human Rights Day, a date celebrated by the United Nations and human rights organizations for decades. Around the world today, people have been posting photos of themselves “behind bars” in support of Shawkan. The photo at top is one collection of dozens I that greeted me on my Twitter feed today. Amnesty International has a “Write for Rights” public petition on Shawkan’s behalf, as well: Write for Rights for Shawkan.

Shawkan’s story has so far been one of the denial of basic human rights by a nation allied with Western governments, but it also has been a story of many citizens stepping up and making certain that Shawkan’s story is heard. Both stories are worth knowing.
Read More