The Egyptian government

For upholding death sentences of 183 Muslim Brotherhood supporters and lengthy prison terms for journalists

During the Arab Spring, Egypt was thought to be the flashpoint that would spark off liberal democracy in the region; but it is now swiftly going in the opposite direction. After upholding the death sentences of 183 members of the Muslim Brotherhood—including its leader, Mohammed Badie—an Egyptian court has also sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to prison, two of them for seven years and one for ten years.

The three journalists—Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed— were arrested in December last year in Cairo. They were accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious-political group (now termed a terror organisation), and producing false reports to aid the group.

Despite the international outcry and farcical manner in which the trial was carried out, neither has President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi intervened nor has the judiciary reversed the decision. As the country desperately seeks stability, what is required is effective leadership that establishes and respects democratic institutions. Instead, one witnesses a return to dictatorship and draconian crackdowns.

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