Harsh term as crackdown continues
AN EGYPTIAN military court has sentenced Hisham Genena, the country’s former top auditor, to five years in prison for “spreading news that harms the armed forces”.
Al Jazeera reported that Genena, a top campaign aide to former presidential hopeful Sami Anan, was arrested earlier in the year after allegedly threatening in an interview to release “documents and evidence” of corruption implicating the army’s higher ranks if Anan was harmed in detention.
Under incumbent President Abdel Fatteh El Sisi, who won a second term in the March presidential elections that were largely uncontested – with six credible candidates being either arrested, detained or pulling out citing intimidation – there has been a crackdown on political opponents, journalists and other critics under draconian laws that outlaw much criticism.
Sisi won 97% of the vote, with spoilt votes counting for the second highest number at more than 7% – while the only challenger, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, Sisi’s supporter, won 2.9% of the vote.
Anan, a former army general, retired in January just three days after announcing his short-lived presidential bid.
Genena’s lawyers at this week’s trial argued that the case did not fall under military jurisdiction.
Sisi, legally the head of the army, expanded the jurisdiction of military courts in 2015 to try civilians accused of a platform of activities ranging from attacking state facilities to blocking roads – a move seen as part of the suppression of dissent.
Sisi sacked Genena in 2016 for allegedly exaggerating corruption in Egypt, and shortly before his arrest he was attacked and seriously injured by a group of men in what was suspected to be a kidnapping attempt
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Monday that the Egyptian government campaign against an affiliate of the Islamic State group in North Sinai had left up to 420000 residents in four north-eastern cities in urgent need of humanitarian aid since February.
“The government should provide sufficient food for all residents and allow relief organisations such as the Egyptian Red Crescent to immediately provide resources to address local residents’ critical needs,” said HRW.
The military campaign against the Islamic State-affiliate in North Sinai has included imposing severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods in almost all of the governorate.