Prisons in the Time of COVID-19

On Wednesday afternoon, rights activist Mona Seif headed to the Cabinet building in downtown Cairo with her mother, academic Laila Soueif, and her aunt, author Ahdaf Soueif, along with political science professor Rabab al-Mahdi. When they reached the building, they raised signs demanding serious action to protect inmates in Egyptian prisons from the COVID-19 pandemic, or that they are released. Laila Soueif, 64, and Seif, 34, wore medical masks. In a matter of minutes, security forces arrested the four women and took them to the nearby Qasr al-Nil police station, and from there to the Qasr al-Nil prosecutor’s office, where they were charged with inciting protest and spreading false news. 

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