On Monday, the Cairo Criminal Court listed the former presidential candidate, the head of the Strong Egypt Party, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the Egyptian activist Alaa Abdelfattah, the human rights defender and lawyer Mohamed al-Baqer, and 25 other opposition members on a terror list.

The decision stipulates that the names be added to the list for five years based on the Supreme State Security Prosecution request, even though they have not been convicted of court rulings. The decision also included the Muslim Brotherhood’s inclusion on the list of terrorist entities, as the Egyptian authorities have classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation since the end of 2013 after the army ousted the elected Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information estimates the total number of prisoners in Egypt at about 106,000, including 60,000 political prisoners. The detainees’ lists includes secular activists, journalists, lawyers, academics, and Islamists who were arrested in continuous and widespread campaigns against all opposition groups under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Recent days have witnessed a campaign of arrests against the leaders of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, where its officials were accused of joining a terrorist group, which international human rights activists considered a shocking accusation.

The Egyptian authorities have expanded over the years to stigmatise their opponents with terrorism and include them on terror lists to seize or confiscate their funds, even in the absence of judicial convictions.