Haitham Mohamedain

Haitham Mohamedain is an Egyptian labor lawyer and political activist.[1] He is a leading member of the Revolutionary Socialists and also a co-founder of the Revolution Path Front.[2][3]

Haytham Mohamedain

Haitham Mohamedain acted as a member of the defense team for workers tried by an Emergency State Security Court in the wake of the April 6, 2008 Mahalla uprising.[1] In his work as a lawyer, he defended striking employees and victims of police torture.[4] He has also worked to establish independent and worker-run labor unions.[3]

As a leading figure in the Revolutionary Socialists movement and the Road of the Revolution Front, Haitham Moamedain has been instrumental in organizing opposition to and protests against the anti-protest law passed by the transitional government in 2013.[5][6] He also participated in the June 30 protests against Mohamed Morsi and continued to protest the new military government after the coup.[7] He wrote a letter from prison denouncing the transfer of Tiran Island and Sanafir Island to Saudi Arabia.[8]

He has worked as part of a number of organizations supporting human rights in Egypt, such as the El Nadeem Center.[9][10]

Arrests

Mohamedain participated in the protests of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and was briefly detained and interrogated by state security during the course of the revolution.[1] He was detained on a short-term basis again in 2013[10] and 2016[3][11]

In 2018, he was arrested again, and held for five months before being released on probation. [12] In response to the 2018 arrest the International Socialist Organization, the Egyptian Solidarity Initiative and People before Profit put out a statement demanding for him to be freed.[4]

Mohamedain was arrested again on 13 May 2019.[13] He was accused of violating the terms of his probation.[9] Uniformed police officers blindfolded him and held him in the al-Saff police station for three days.[12][14] Officers at the police station initially denied his presence there, then, after informally admitting to it, did not allow contact with family or a lawyer.[3] On 16 May, he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution and was charged with, "collaborating with a terrorist organization with the intention of organizing anti-government protests during the Africa Cup of Nations."[12] He has been held in pre-trial detention since, exceeding the 2-year limit on pre-trial detention placed by the Egyptian criminal code.[12][15]

Amnesty International put out a statement, "calling on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mostafa Maher and Haytham Mohamdeen as their detention is arbitrary, and the charge against them is overly vague and has no credible basis. They appear to have been targeted solely because of their history of peaceful activism."[13] Ordre des avocats de Geneve wrote a letter expressing concern over his arrest and the broader situation of human rights lawyers in Egypt.[16] The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers gave a lecture on Mohamedain's case.[17]

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission has taken on his case as well, as a part of the Defending Freedom Project.[12]

References
  1. "The cruel optimist". Mada Masr. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  2. "New 'anti-Brotherhood, anti-military' front launched to 'achieve revolution goals'". Ahram Online. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  3. ""We want to create a new life": A Labor Rights Activist Struggles for Justice". DAWN. Democracy in the Arab World Now. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  4. "HAITHAM MOHAMEDAIN MUST BE FREED". SocialistWorker.org. International Socialist Organization. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  5. "Secular Egyptian groups demonstrate against protest law". Ahram Online. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  6. "Activists launch campaign against Protest Law". Mada Masr. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  7. "Labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain arrested by army". International Viewpoint. Fourth International. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  8. "Jailed labour activist says military regime is impoverishing the people". greenleft. No. 1120. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  9. "Solidarity with Haitham Mohamedain". Egypt Solidarity. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  10. "UPDATED Egypt: Haitham Mohamedain released, but under investigation by State Security". 7 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  11. Youssef, Adham (14 October 2016). "Activist Haitham Mohamedain released". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  12. "Haitham Mohamedain". Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  13. "Arrests raise fears of fresh crackdown against peaceful critics". Amnesty International. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  14. "Egypt: Re-arrest of Haytham Mohamadein". FIDH. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  15. "'Regime should commit to honoring human rights', says member of ND board of trustees". Middle East Observer. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  16. Mangeat, Gregoire (5 June 2018). "Grave concerns about the situation of Mr Haitham Mohamedain" (PDF). ODAGE. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  17. "Egypt and Human Rights: The Case of Haitham Mohamedain". haldane.org. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2022.


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