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EGYPT By Mostafa Omar | December 5, 2003 | Page 5 THE EGYPTIAN regime of President Hosni Mubarak plans to put five socialist activists on trial December 16 in a so-called "exceptional court." Using a 27-year-old repressive emergency law, the government has charged the five with "membership in a revolutionary socialist group that conspires to violently overthrow the government"--and also "passing information about human rights abuses to international organizations such as Amnesty International." Behind these charges lies an intensive campaign by the government to crack down on rising anger about increasing poverty and unemployment--as well as the regime's inaction over U.S. support for Israel and its occupation of Iraq. In response to this repression, the Center for Socialist Studies (CSS) has initiated an international solidarity campaign to pressure the Mubarak regime to drop all charges against the Socialist Five and to free all prisoners of conscience. This struggle for democratic rights is a key part of a broader fight against neoliberal policies imposed by the U.S. and carried out by the Mubarak regime. These economic policies--which mirror the ones being imposed in occupied Iraq--have led to a rise in poverty and 20 percent unemployment. To connect the struggle for democracy in the Middle East with the international peace movement, Egyptian activists are holding an international conference against the U.S. plan to dominate the world through war and neoliberalism. The conference will take place on December 13-14 and promises to bring together hundreds of activists from all over the world. To send messages of solidarity with the Egyptian socialists, e-mail [email protected].
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