An Egyptian cartoonist, whose work is occasionally critical
of government figures, was arrested in the capital, Cairo, on Sunday and
charged with running a webpage without a license, the country's Interior
Ministry said in a statement.
The arrest of Islam Gaweesh appears to be part of an
intensified clampdown on activists and journalists in Egypt, where many have
been detained, questioned and even forcibly disappeared in recent months.
In custody, Gaweesh was told that the only charge actually
against him so far was "publishing drawings that are offensive to the
regime," his lawyer Mahmoud Othman told The Associated Press.
Most of Gaweesh's work dealt with the mundanities of life in
Egypt. One of his most recent cartoons tackled the recent cold snap in the
country by showing a man asking his love interest on the phone why she is cold
in an effort to appear manly. "The weather is great," he says before
being interrupted by a group of penguins in the window telling him to shut up.
One of the few cartoons Gaweesh has recently drawn that are
critical of government figures targeted a foul-mouthed pro-government lawyer
and lawmaker Mortada Mansour, who often threatens to beat his political opponents
with his shoes. Earlier this month, Mansour was selected to head the
parliament's human rights committee.
In Gaweesh's caricature, Mansour is shown standing next to a
torturer and his victim saying: "Lash the lights out of him, but
gently."
Ever since the military overthrew Islamist President
Mohammed Morsi in 2013 amid mass protests against his rule, the government has
launched a crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds of protesters and throwing
thousands of Islamists in prison. Many of the young pro-democracy activists who
spearheaded the 2011 uprising, which was partly sparked by government
limitations on freedom of speech and expression, have been swept up in the
campaign.
The statement from the Interior Ministry, which runs the
police force in Egypt, said Gaweesh was arrested at the headquarters of the
news website, Egypt News Network, which they raided on Sunday after official
investigations revealed that it was publishing news without a license.
Source: Canadian Press
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