Malek Adly
If the judiciary's role is to ensure citizens' oppression in favour of a particular ruler, minister or security agency - and to make this injustice look like robust legal procedures (though they could not convince a child of the legality of such actions) - then you know you are in Egypt.
Malek Adly is a prominent human rights lawyer and director of Lawyers Network at theEgyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), which seeks to promote and mobilise social movements to spread the culture of human rights. He is one the founders of the Front for Defending Egypt's Protesters, a group comprising of 34 human rights organisations and several lawyers, which documents illegal practices carried out by state police forces against peaceful protesters.
A significant crackdown on civil society in Egypt has been taking place since 2014. HRDs face an extremely challenging situation due to restrictions imposed on civil society and peaceful public gatherings and protests, travel bans, the arrest and sentencing of HRDs, bloggers, journalists and protesters, as well as an ongoing smear campaign against human rights groups. A counterterrorism law enacted in August 2015 defines terrorism in very broad terms, and is being used to restrict freedom of expression and intimidate government opponents, journalists and human rights defenders.
