Mariam A.
Journalist Shimaa Samy. Picture owned by Samy and used with permission. As the sun began to set on the evening of May 20, 2020, and Shimaa Samy's family busily prepared for the iftar of Ramadan, a massive security force arrived at their doorstep in Alexandria. The belligerent security officials, dressed in civilian clothes, appeared as if they were ready to take down a formidable and sinister terrorist operation. However, Shimaa Sami was neither a terrorist nor a criminal. In fact, she posed a far greater threat — she was a journalist. Shimaa's journey into pretrial detention soon began, with the baseless charges frequently used by the Egyptian authorities to target activists, journalists, and opposition figures, namely, joining terrorist groups and spreading false news. In reality, her true charge was working with the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, a legal NGO working on defending freedom of expression in Egypt, especially freedom of the press, in addition to her independent journalistic activities on social media and independent newspapers. Sadly, the NGO has since closed its doors. Despite the absence of any evidence to support the charges against her, Shimaa spent 16 months in the prison system in Egypt. During this period, she was held in harsh conditions, cramped in dark cells that lacked basic living conditions such as ventilation, adequate medical services, and freedom of movement. She was also subjected to enforced disappearance camps and solitary confinement, despite the lack of any justification for such treatment. Shimaa’s story is not unique; Egypt is ranked 168th out of 180 countries for press freedom, in 2022 with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calling it “one of the world's biggest prisons for journalists.” The government's crackdown on the media has increased in the past 5 years, and at least 51 journalists have been jailed since 2018, mostly on false news and terrorist group charges. Egyptian authorities continue to stifle civic space and suppress peaceful dissent, with over 600 news and human rights websites remaining blocked, according to a 2022 report by Amnesty International. The number of political prisoners in Egypt has reached an alarming 60,000, including journalists, activists, human rights defenders, and political opponents. In March 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee highlighted how the authorities employed arbitrary detention and the use of pretrial detention to penalize journalists, human rights defenders, and political opponents. Additionally, the Human Rights Watch World Report of 2023 reported inhumane conditions in Egyptian prisons and detention centers, where detainees are subjected to torture and coerced confessions. For World Press Freedom Day, Shimaa Samy spoke with Global Voices over Signal to shed light on the situation of press freedom in Egypt. Shima Samy (SS): The first answer the comes to mind is “I don't see any journalism.” Maybe it's a habit I've developed to turn tragedy into laughter to overcome bitterness. But let me be more optimistic and say that after it had completely lived on life support, it is now in intensive care, and there is a possibility that it will survive just as much as there is a possibility that it will die. Is the possibility of its survival linked to the Egyptian regime's recent efforts before COP27 or since Biden's inauguration as US president? Maybe it has been a little affected, meaning we can't deny that some journalists have been released from detention, which undoubtedly brought the pulse back, and there have been some meetings with representatives of the state in which promises were made. However, I think the main reason is the resilience of journalists. They continue to work, write, and publish, clinging to their right to free speech after 10 years of killings, torture, detention, economic threats, and displacement. Activists stand in solidarity with Egypt’s political prisoners during COP27. Sharm il sheikh. November 2022. Screenshot from a video by the Independent [AN: please link the video]. Fair use. SS: The beauty and curse of journalism in Egypt is that it can lead you to peril, but, any significant experience, no matter how harsh, can make you purer and see deeper. The more difficult the experience, the more it can increase your ability to analyze and describe. My experience of being imprisoned as a journalist created sources for me and visions to address topics that I hadn't considered before. Even though I regained my freedom a year and a half ago, the situation has unfortunately not improved much. People still need to tread cautiously to fully grasp what is happening.