Meet the woman trying to keep Egypt accountable despite torture, shaming, and a life sentence

[n2doc]

Over the last three years, Egyptian revolutionary Hend Nafea has struggled against her country’s various governments, against her rural society, and against her family. In return, the headscarfed Tahrir Square activist has been beaten and tortured by army officers, judged a shameful woman by her society, and imprisoned at home by her family. Last week, she was sentenced to life in prison. And, yet, Nafea remains determined to struggle on.

Upon hearing the widely-criticized verdict in her case on Feb. 4, Nafea wrote in a public post on her Facebook wall:

I want to tell you something: whatever we have done, we still haven’t done anything for the revolution . . . there are many martyrs that have given their lives for this country! And I’m reminded of what my colleague Mahienour [El-Massry] said: ‘We don’t like prisons, but we’re not afraid of them’.

She ends this post with a smiley face. It’s a spirited defiance she has displayed ever since her ordeal began just over three years ago.

Hend’s story isn’t unique. In her case alone, 229 others were sentenced to life in prison, including the well-known activist Ahmed Douma, for protests outside a government building in 2011 demanding an end to military rule. Two days before that, 183 people were sentenced to death.

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http://qz.com/343714/meet-the-woman-trying-to-keep-egypt-accountable-despite-torture-shaming-and-a-life-sentence/

[Agschmid]

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