I received with total disbelief the news that on May 16 an Egyptian court had sentenced me to death — along with former president Mohamed Morsi, a number of his aides and several respected public figures, including renowned scholar Emad Shahin. The charges in my case, like Morsi’s, are false and entirely political. The world knows by now the nature of the Egyptian regime’s kangaroo trials of political opponents, which international human rights organizations describe as a “charade” lacking due process and violating Egyptian and international law.
On Jan. 25, 2011, like millions of other young Egyptians, I participated in demonstrations against then-President Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian regime, which entrenched corruption and injustice in Egypt for more than three decades. We camped in Tahrir Square, chanted for freedom and social justice and demanded the removal of the only president most of us had known. Our first enemy was, and still is, tyranny and despotism in all its forms. After the fall of the Mubarak regime, I was inspired by the level of political activism, patriotism and national pride that united all of us despite our political differences and affiliations. I was filled with hope for a better life, and I dreamed of going to the ballot box knowing that my vote would count, like most people in democratic countries.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/undaunted-by-my-death-sentence/2015/05/22/1dd3a4a6-fe52-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html
