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Egypt's political prisoners
The president wants dialogue, but he still keeps his critics behind bars
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.
Alas, the national dialogue officially set to begin this month is unlikely to reverse Egypt's slide into despotism. The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which ran the previous government and has the largest contingent of political prisoners, has been excluded from the talks. Opposition parties taking part are doing so to get their members freed. Hamdeen Sabahi, a moderate left-wing opposition leader, was shown on television embracing Mr Sisi after the dialogue was announced. Two days later a close comrade was freed.
When Mr Sisi took power, he at first cracked down on his Islamist foes, especially the Muslim Brothers. But in recent years the repression has been aimed more widely-at anybody who, for instance, criticises the president's economic policy, or complains of sexual harassment (especially by someone well-connected), or offends conservative mores. All such critics risk going to jail. Fair trials are rare.
Least accountable for abuses are the security services. In January a leaked video appeared to show torture at a Cairo police station. Rather than investigate the police, the state prosecutor put the alleged victims on trial, accusing them of undermining the police...