One of the images on social media of activist Mahienour al-Massry in a courtroom cage. She is appealing against a two-year sentence for organising an illegal protest
Authorities accused of purging opposition on opening day of court case over illegal protest
One of Egypt's leading novelists, Ahdaf Soueif, has accused Egypt's military-backed authorities of "waging a war on the young" on the opening day of an expedited trial against 24 human rights activists in Cairo.
"They are trying to push people back into the spirit that the Mubarak regime created, to make young people feel like they can't change things ," Soueif said.
"This is about telling the youth that they need to stay out of it, that their protests aren't going to work. But you don't take on young people in this way – it's their future and they need to shape it."
The youth activists, who led the charge against the former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, have been among the greatest casualties of a crackdown that followed the fall of his successor, Mohamed Morsi, in July last year.
The interior ministry says at least 16,000 people have been arrested since Morsi was overthrown. Independent rights groups put the figure closer to 36,000.
The leadership of the once-feted April 6 Youth Movement is mostly behind bars. The revolutionary talisman Alaa Abdel Fattah was sentenced to 15 years in jail for allegedly organising a protest – an act banned under a law implemented last November, and used to jail several revolutionary leaders.
His sister and Soueif's niece, 20-year-old Sanaa Seif, was among 24 people on trial in Cairo on Sunday, accused of protesting illegally, possessing fireworks, damaging public property, and a "show of force with the aim of terrorizing citizens".
The group was arrested on 21 June as hundreds demonstrated against a law that criminalises unsanctioned protests. Although most had been taking part in the event, one defendant – the award-winning human rights lawyer Yara Sallam – was reportedly arrested while purchasing refreshments from a nearby kiosk.
According to those present at Tora prison's police academy courthouse, judge Ahmed Rashwan left without informing lawyers of his decision. A prison guard later said the court had been adjourned to 16 September.
Rights groups and lawyers have accused Egypt's judiciary of sealing the crackdown against the country's youth activists with a flurry of draconian prison sentences.
"With every sham proceeding, it becomes increasingly clear that Egyptian judges are walking in lockstep with President Sisi to purge Egypt of opposition," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and north Africa division at Human Rights Watch.
"The arrogance and sense of being above the law that was on full display in the courtroom is becoming all too commonplace in today's Egypt where there is no accountability for misconduct."
On Saturday, Egyptian social media was awash with images of the prominent youth activist Mahienour al-Massry in a courtroom cage in Alexandria. As the judge deliberated an appeal against a two-year jail term she is serving for organising an illegal protest, a shaft of light illuminated her small, white-clad form.
The recent criminalisation of street demonstrations, which are traditionally the preserve of youth activists, has had a significant impact on the ability and willingness of opposition groups to mobilise.
Small pro-Morsi protests persist on Friday afternoons, but they are usually shut down by police. Revolutionary groups also hold occasional protests, but their numbers are much depleted.
"Wake up! Whether we protest in the street or stay at home it's all a disaster," Sana Seif tweeted last month. "We are in danger and I would rather be pulled in resisting than defeated and staying home."
Egypt is tightening control over social media by acquiring new software that will facilitate extensive monitoring of young people's communications, putting even stay-at-home opposition supporters at risk. "It's actually the young people who don't go to protests, but sit at home sharing and liking statuses who are most at risk from this sort of surveillance," said Eva Blum-Dumontet, advocacy officer at Privacy International.
"They are not leaders and they may not have previously been on the authorities' radar, but this way they become exposed."
The Egyptian political class have often been accused of being out of touch with the needs of the country's bulging youth population, who bear much of the brunt of the country's economic and social woes. Every year, more than 800,000 young Egyptians join the job market – which already has an unemployment rate of 13.4%.
Much of the cabinet and the military top brass are over 60 years of age. At 59, President Sisi was the youngest member of the military council that ruled Egypt in the immediate aftermath of the Mubarak's overthrow.
"The regime needs to realise that for a lot of young people, there is no going back now," said Rasha Abdalla, an associate professor at the American University in Cairo.
"They have watched their friends being shot before their eyes, knowing it might as well have been them … No one is immune." A number of Abdalla's own students have been jailed after taking part in demonstrations.
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