Sunday, April 06, 2014

Sisi the Donkey

As part of the return to Mubarakism currently underway in Egypt, the regime has been cracking down on all criticism of the military and its leaders, including the technically ex-leader Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi.  One rural example of this is a man imprisoned for naming his donkey "Sisi":
Omar Abul Maged, a 31-year-old farmer, never imagined he would one day be in prison for naming his donkey after the defense minister.
However, the Qena Misdemeanor Court has now sentenced him to a year over charges of “humiliating the military” for naming his donkey “Sisi,” after the recently resigned military chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi who is due to run for presidential elections after overthrowing Egypt's first democratically elected president Morsy on 3 July.
Abdul Maged's satirical way of protesting against the military-led government began in 20 September 2013 when the pro-Morsy Abul Maged was riding his donkey through his village, called Ashraf in Qena province, covering the donkey’s body with a poster of al-Sisi and putting a military-style cap over the donkey’s head. 
The police, when notified of this act from anti-Morsy villagers, arrested Abul Maged along with his donkey and after six months in custody, the court issued its verdict on Sunday.
Note that according to the article, police arrested the donkey, as well, though its fate is not mentioned.

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