Egypt - September 2023

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the leading candidate in the election, running for what would be his third term. Within days of the announcement of the upcoming election, rights groups in Egypt began to report that dozens of opposition party supporters had been arrested in different parts of the country, often on charges of spreading false news, or joining a terrorist group. Such arrests are not uncommon in Egypt (where some sources estimate there are as many as 60,000 political prisoners), but they appear to be increasing in number in the lead up to the election. The timing of these arrests makes them even more important as they are likely to severely impair the fairness of the electoral process.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Associated Press, New York Times