Following his sham re-election in March 2018, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is deepening his crackdown on dissent. Citizens involved in peaceful pro-democracy activism, research, or government criticism on social media have been detained under shadowy National Security Case 621/2018, while others have been handed harsh prison sentences in unfair military trials. Those targeted have diverse political profiles and include prominent figures previously left alone by the regime. All this suggests that al-Sisi is aiming to transform Egypt from an authoritarian system that limits independent political space into a totalitarian one that wants to eliminate it entirely.

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