Egypt Watch

Egyptian authorities fabricate demonstrations against Alaa Abdel Fattah campaigners

Wednesday, a group of young people demonstrated in the COP27 zone in Sharm el-Sheikh carrying posters against expelling the Egyptian lawmaker Omar Darwish from the session on political prisoners in Egypt by UN security.

The demonstrators were wearing a blue-bloused uniform, indicating they were pre-organized. State-sponsored news TV, Extra News, interviewed one of the demonstrators and asked her about their demonstration, but the young woman failed to tell it. “We are here against Alaa Abdel Fattah and supporting Amr Afifiy,” confusing the name of the Egyptian lawmaker.

Omar Darwish is an Egyptian MP from the Coordination of Parties Youth and Politicians, a political alliance formed by the General Intelligence in 2016. Omar was driven out from the Demand Climate Justice conference on freedoms in Egypt after his verbal attack on Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif, who demands releasing her brother, the detained blogger, Alaa Abdel Fattah. Darwish accused Sanaa of betraying her home when she required international pressure to get her brother out.

During the conference, Sanaa explained the case of her brother, who has gone on a hunger strike for seven months until now and decided to stop drinking water days ago in the last step towards freedom. The family lost any contact with Alaa, Sanaa confirmed. While accusing him of insulting the Egyptian government, military and state, Darwish claimed Alaa was a criminal rather than a political prisoner.

Darwish interrupted Sanaa when she started to reply on his intervention, as she said she would respond to the Egyptian authorities, saying he spoke personally, not as a parliamentarian. Then, UN security demanded he departs after quarrelling with several attendees. The video showed Darwish attempting to combat the UN security shouting, “I am here on Egyptian land, and you cannot drive me out.”