FRANCE 24 spoke to Ramy Shaath, an Egyptian-Palestinian activist who spent two and half years in jail in Egypt on accusations of aiding a terrorist group. He was a member of several secular political groups and a co-founder of the pro-Palestinian BDS movement. Shaath, who was never formally charged, described the conditions of his arrest, detention and finally his release from jail on January 8. He claimed "arbitrary detentions and arrests" increasingly account for "the majority" of inmates in Egyptian prisons under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He also said he understood that he was expected to keep silent following his release and had already received threats.
"I've seen people in their hundreds that were arrested basically because an officer stopped them in the street, checked their mobile and checked their Facebook account and found a joke, or a post, or even a like on a post or a joke," Shaath told FRANCE 24.
