generalspeaking

Stifling Dissent

After yesterday's court appearance and the dispersal of all the lawyers and the onlookers, deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was permitted a period of unobstructed opportunity to hold an impromptu, if inconvenient meeting with other members of the Muslim Brotherhood. What kind of responsive strategy they may have discussed has not been revealed, but it represented the first time in many months that Mr. Morsi had such a conversation.

And it doesn't appear too likely that another such opportunity will soon appear on his horizon of possibilities. In remembrance of his having escaped incarceration during the time of the Tahrir Square 'Arab Spring' protests when Egypt experienced assaults against so many of its prisons bringing a spectre of jailbreaks re-occurring as they did in 2011 releasing Mr. Morsi and 30 of his colleagues during a time of turmoil, he has now been tucked safely away in deep security.

Kind of amazing, if one thinks about it. A man who was imprisoned for ostensibly acting against the best interests of the state -- admittedly a very autocratic one -- representing a dangerously extremist religious group, makes his escape along with others of his ilk, thanks to the good relations one Islamist movement enjoyed with another. And then is elected to the presidency. It is suspected that it was Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated Cairo at the time of the protests who conspired to aid Mr. Morsi in his prison outbreak.

With that in mind the Egyptian military has taken additional steps to safeguard the presence of their prized prisoner. He has been ensconced now at the Borg elArab prison, a modern new prison complex built in 2004 and designed to maximum-security standards. Some of the country's most notorious criminals make their home there, held separately from political prisoners. Also held in custody there are  Palestinian militants (Hamas terrorists) arrested in attacks in the troubled Sinai Peninsula.

Mr. Morsi's first night at the prison was spent in a hospital room. His exertions of the day before, shouting his innocence and defiance and iterating and reiterating what prosecutors seemed deaf to, that he was the rightful president of the Republic and he demanded to be released immediately, appears to have done some damage to the man. Not as much damage as he would have commanded done to his persecutors had he been released and reinstated, but enough.

He complained of high blood pressure and high blood sugars from his diabetes condition, related to the aggravation, mental and physical of the day before. But he is secure and well taken care of at the 50-acre prison compound, 30 kilometres from Alexandira, garrisoned by a special unit of security forces, sitting behind high concrete walls, not one but many. Checkpoints extend a mile beyond the prison gates. Making it extremely difficult for Morsi supporters to plan protests.


"I think moving him there was mainly a security concern. They want to avoid a security disaster", was the brilliant conclusion of Mohammed Zarie, head of a human rights institution working on the reform of the country's criminal laws. "If the instructions are to treat him well, he will get what he wants. If it is sticking by the book, then they may impose restrictions on him," he continued astutely.

One might have understood being placed within the confines of a high-security unit could be interpreted as having had "restrictions" imposed. Regardless, he is free to continue insisting that he is the legitimate president of the country. And he will doubtless refresh that message when his trial is due to proceed on January 8, ushering in a new year and a new Egypt.

Labels: Conflict, Egypt, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, November 07, 2013