25 defendants received preliminary fines up to 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,900) and seven were acquitted of charges ranging from illegal protesting to blocking roads, chanting against the state and receiving foreign funding. The fines will be upheld if the defendants commit ‘further crimes’.

The amendments include an extension of the presidential term to six years, which means al-Sisi, whose current term was due to end in 2022, can now stay in power until 2024 plus another six years if he is reelected. A 180-member Shura Council (senate) will be reinstated, of which a third of the members will be directly appointed by the president.

The situation for Egyptian writers is growing increasingly difficult, with many in exile or even facing imprisonment at home. Voicing critical or alternative views on politics, morality or religion has become a red line and many writers are now afraid to publish at all.

As of June 2018, Amal had documented nearly 3,000 marriages and 200 divorce cases in the Ash Sharqiyah Governorate. She believes that most cases of divorce are caused by the spouses’ use of mobile applications, namely Facebook and WhatsApp, in addition to some spyware programs used by the spouses to act out their feelings of jealousy or mistrust of the other. Other reasons for divorce include those related to reproduction and more material reasons.

The most notable change is to the presidential term limit, increasing it from two four-year terms to two six-year terms. This would allow al-Sisi to run for two more terms after his current one ends in 2022, which could keep him in power until 2034.

al-Sisi regime has succeeded in rebuilding the wall of fear separating citizens from the state. The space for dissent in Egypt has shrunk to zero. Many of those arrested were not politically active, or at least not recently, but voiced criticism on social media or had even quit activism altogether.

Egypt has since taken extensive measures to adhere to the Russian demands. Flights from Moscow to Cairo were reinstated in April 2018, but the more important flights to the tourist resorts on the Red Sea such as Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh are still on hold. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met in mid-October to discuss the matter.

In short, the government and private parties such as Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment envision a city centre with higher end residents and businesses, regulated and controlled entertainment, and a vibrant but nevertheless strictly censored arts and culture scene. Meanwhile, the bulk of resources for urban development are being directed elsewhere, such as the new capital.

It was a video Fathy posted on Facebook a few days before the arrest that got her in trouble. In the video, she was telling her own story of sexual harassment: how she was harrassed by the security personnel of her bank. She also criticised the Egyptian government for failing to protect women against sexual harassment. She also criticised more generally the crackdown on political opposition in Egypt and the socioeconomic conditions inthe country.

Throughout the political upheaval of the past seven years, el-Tayeb has succeeded in maintaining al-Azhar’s key role in Egypt’s power dynamics, by strongly supporting the regime and the army, preventing major internal changes at al-Azhar and ensuring Islam retains a central role in public policies.