Egypt Arrests Leading Human Rights Monitors in Latest Crackdown

In Egypt, the executive director of the country’s leading human rights group has been arrested as part of an unprecedented crackdown on activists and journalists.

Gasser Abdel-Razek was arrested at his home just days after two other staffers for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights were also arrested.

The move signals a major escalation of repression from the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has imprisoned thousands of people since he came to power after the 2013 overthrow of former President Mohamed Morsi.

“These arrests are a huge blow to civil society in Egypt,” says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Democracy Now! correspondent and reporter for Mada Masr, the country’s last independent media outlet. “It has really sent shockwaves throughout the community here.”

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