Four prisons transformed me from a young man taking his first steps towards achieving his dreams and ambitions, to a homeless and hunted person in the streets of Johannesburg,
I thought I achieved freedom after fleeing Cairo, I had no plans, I just wanted to preserve my life and what was left of my future.
I fled as soon as I got a tourist visa to Azerbaijan, and I was not afraid of being without refuge. Home is where freedom is, it does not matter where I go or what I do, what matters is to escape from Egyptian prisons, even if it is to the unknown.
I am confident that this is not the end,
My story has a sequel that the days will witness.
January; the beginning
My beginning was when the 25 January revolution started. Although I was not fifteen years old yet as I was born in 1996, it imposed itself on the reality of every Egyptian. With the revolution against Hosni Mubarak’s regime, my interest in public affairs began. I believed in it and participated with my time and effort.
I witnessed massacres committed by the Egyptian security forces against us, such as the events of Mohamed Mahmoud St., the Cabinet, Maspero, and other massacres that shaped my awareness and beliefs.
I do not remember an event supporting the January revolution, or the freedom of detainees, in which I did not participate.
Through those events and during the period of the rule of the military council in Egypt, I volunteered in a large number of human rights and political initiatives and campaigns, including:
The “No to Military Trials for Civilians” campaign
The “Release them” campaign, through which we called for the release of political detainees during the period of the ousted president.
2013 Tamarod campaign, during which we collected signatures to remove former President Mohamed Morsi.
In 2013, I actively participated in demanding the release of detainees before the Abbassia Court.
I participated in a political theatrical performance at the Journalists Syndicate that addressed the issue of torture.
All the demonstrations called for by the “Road of the Revolution” Front.
“Sustenance for Detainees” campaign.
“We Have Not Forgotten You” campaign, to deliver aid and the needs of detainees from their families to bring them to their families in places of detention.
In 2014, I participated in the “Release Egypt” campaign, by the April 6 Youth Movement, which called for the abolition of the protest law and the release of all detainees without classification.
Years of Darkness and Prisons
On 22 January 2015, I was arrested with a group of friends from downtown Cairo and taken to Abdeen Police Station. I was tortured to force me to confess to crimes I did not commit.
My case was referred to the prosecution under report number 1867 of 2015, Downtown Cairo Felonies, and then I remained in pretrial detention for 45 days before releasing me.
On 19 November 2015, I participated with some friends in an event on the October Bridge to commemorate the events of Mohamed Mahmoud and demand justice for the martyrs, and then I was arrested along with eight other people. We were tortured in the Qasr El Nil police station, and then we were transferred to Tora prison for investigation, after report No. 17826 of 2015 Qasr El Nil felonies.
After about five months, we were acquitted by the court on 15April 2016.
In the same year – 2016 – I participated in the “Friday for the Land “events in front of the Journalists Syndicate, protesting the Tiran and Sanafir deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
On 2 January 2017, and after another event in front of the Journalists Syndicate protesting the same agreement, we were assaulted and some people were arrested, and I suffered a fracture in my right leg.
On 25 January 2017, while we were discussing the possibility of demonstrating in Dar El Salam area, me a number of friends were arrested from a coffee shop, and then we were taken to Dar El Salam police station, where the journey of inhuman torture began.
I was charged again in case No. 1334 of 2017 Dar El Salam felonies.
After 11 months, the case was referred to the Supreme State Security Court, and registered as No. 248 of 2017.
On December 14, 2017, we were released from the Maadi State Security Court, but the decision was not respected or implemented! We were forcibly disappeared in places affiliated with the National Security for more than two months.
On February 26, we were surprised to be referred to the prosecution again after an arrest and summons report was issued against us on the basis of an in absentia ruling, as if we had just been arrested!
On 24 March 2018, I was released, but a five-year prison sentence was issued against me in absentia in case No. 1876 of 2015, Central Cairo Felonies.
Despite that, I was released, and then I got out but I was not completely free. I was being pursued by security, so I contacted the lawyer to request a re-trial of the ruling issued against me.
On 3 November 2018, I appeared before the court and was released. The case was reserved for the sentencing session on 6 December 2018. On that day, the sentence was reduced from five years to one year with hard labor.
On 28 January 2019, I turned myself in with the lawyer to the prosecution office to implement the one-year prison sentence issued against me.
I was released on 31 December 2019. However, the next morning, I was arrested again and detained in Saida Zeinab police station for ten days without any legal basis!
Therefore, I decided to escape from prison to the diaspora.
The Exile
I knew there was no escape or alternative to leaving, but I did not know where to! Escape was the only option for me from the narrowest spot in the world, the prisons and detention centers of Egypt, in which I became an expert in their types and shapes of their cells, and ways to overcome their harsh cold and the isolation of their solitary confinement.
I collected my scattered thoughts, gathered my strength, and controlled my fears after I got tired of hiding inside the walls of my house. I looked for the easiest way to get out of Egypt, and it was through Azerbaijan, because it is one of the countries that allows Egyptians without a visa.
Azerbaijan
I thought I booked a ticket to freedom, and I finally succeeded in leaving Egypt.
From the first moment, I was certain that Azerbaijan was just a transit station, a step towards the dream of living in a safe country.
Therefore, upon my arrival, I started my plan to obtain a tourist visa to Georgia, looking for an intermediary to facilitate my entry, even if illegally, to Europe.
Georgia
I got the visa the next day and left Azerbaijan, however I was shocked by the Georgian security refusing to let me into the country, as they doubted the purpose of my trip.
The expressions on my face, the terror that prevailed on my appearance, revealed my intentions before I reached the passport officer. I was refused entry to Georgia, and deported on the same plane to Azerbaijan.
And there began the journey of confusion. The authorities in Azerbaijan refused to let me enter the country again. Either for my return from Georgia in this way, or because the original visa was valid for my entry only once. They started the procedures to deport me to Cairo from Azerbaijan.
Here I lost control of myself!
The specter of arrest was haunting me. I imagined the jailer’s thick stick leaving its marks on my body, and I screamed and cried bitterly and loudly, and refused to be deported.
They asked me to get a visa for any other country online, and after two days I spent on the airport chairs, I got a ticket to Malaysia.
Malaysia
I got a ticket to Malaysia; however, the problem was the condition of having a thousand dollars with me to allow me to board the plane. After heated discussions with the security men, they allowed me to leave but unfortunately, I was also refused entry to Malaysia, and I was detained at the airport for five days. During which I was beaten and insulted. They threatened to deport me to Egypt, and they were telling me every moment that they would let me go back.
I could not sleep, I was afraid of returning. I knew that prison would be my fate again without a crime in Egypt. With the help of a friend, I got a ticket to Indonesia, however the Malaysian security refused to let me board the plane,
Then I got a visa to Kenya, and I had to pay $150 American dollars on the pretext that I was in a hotel at the airport and not in a prison.
Kenya
I paid the amount and left for Kenya, where I stayed for about three months, That was the beginning of my journey to the African continent, and it was the first time in my life that I felt free.
Mozambique and South Africa
Due to the high prices in Kenya and my difficult circumstances, I decided to leave for Mozambique as an attempt to enter South Africa and apply for political asylum there.
As soon as I arrived in Mozambique, I prepared my plan to leave for South Africa.
And I succeeded in crossing the border into South Africa hiding inside a car trunk!.
It was difficult and dangerous, but I always told myself that things would not be worse than what I saw in the basements and headquarters of State Security in Egypt.
I finally made it to South Africa, the great country of Nelson Mandela, the country that embraced and protected me, unlike my country that imprisoned and exiled me.
I applied for asylum six months ago, but I have not received a response yet.
I may become an illegal resident, and risk deportation to Egypt, so I am still seeking a visa for Europe. Despite my illegal status, and my life here alone without friends, I feel comfortable and reassured, no prisons and no more oppression here.
In spite of everything, I am finally free.
