Egypt arrests cartoonist for illegally running a webpage
The arrest of Islam Gaweesh appears to be part of an intensified
clampdown on activists and journalists in Egypt, where many have been
detained, questioned and even forcibly disappeared in recent months.
In custody, Gaweesh was told that the only charge actually against him
so far was "publishing drawings that are offensive to the regime," his
lawyer Mahmoud Othman told The Associated Press.
Most of Gaweesh's work dealt with the mundanities of life in Egypt. One
of his most recent cartoons tackled the recent cold snap in the country
by showing a man asking his love interest on the phone why she is cold
in an effort to appear manly. "The weather is great," he says before
being interrupted by a group of penguins in the window telling him to
shut up.
One of the few cartoons Gaweesh has recently drawn that are critical of
government figures targeted a foul-mouthed pro-government lawyer and
lawmaker Mortada Mansour, who often threatens to beat his political
opponents with his shoes. Earlier this month, Mansour was selected to
head the parliament's human rights committee.
In Gaweesh's caricature, Mansour is shown standing next to a torturer
and his victim saying: "Lash the lights out of him, but gently."
Ever since the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in
2013 amid mass protests against his rule, the government has launched a
crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds of protesters and throwing
thousands of Islamists in prison. Many of the young pro-democracy
activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising, which was partly sparked by
government limitations on freedom of speech and expression, have been
swept up in the campaign.
The statement from the Interior Ministry, which runs the police force in
Egypt, said Gaweesh was arrested at the headquarters of the news
website, Egypt News Network, which they raided on Sunday after official
investigations revealed that it was publishing news without a license.
Source: Canadian Press
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