Sharif Abdel Kouddous’ Exclusive Interview with Recently Freed Egyptian Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah

Sharif Abdel Kouddous’ Exclusive Interview with Recently Freed Egyptian Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah

Sharif Abdel Kouddous’ Exclusive Interview with Recently Freed Egyptian Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah

In an extensive interview, Alaa tells Nation contributor Kouddous that Egypt’s military government is "on a sentencing frenzy."

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

After being released on bail following a 115-day detention, Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah sat down for an exclusive interview with Nation Institute fellow and Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous in Cairo on Sunday. Kouddous, who has chronicled Alaa’s persecution by Egyptian leadership for The Nation, spoke to the activist about his most recent arrest, his experience in solitary confinement and the military government's ongoing crackdown on dissent. Alaa still faces charges and tells Kouddous it's "quite likely" that he’ll be convicted and imprisoned again. "They are on a sentencing frenzy," he says, explaining that Egypt’s new protest law makes it easier to charge protesters. "It’s almost as if it’s a war on a whole generation." 
Justine Drennan

Editor’s note: The interview starts at 14:43

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

But this journalism is possible only with your support.

This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?

Ad Policy
x