Egypt’s young democracy is endangered

Opinion: September 22, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Khaled A. Beydoun

McClatchy Tribune

There are two momentous trials going on in Egypt.

One is of the former President Hosni Mubarak. The other is the trial that is taking place in the very locale where the Egyptian revolution was birthed, and it is pitting the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces against the Tahrir Square protesters.

This latter trial may prove more pivotal for Egypt’s future.

For months after the fall of the Mubarak regime, Tahrir Square evolved into far more than simply the symbol of the revolution. Tahrir galvanized every sector of Egyptian life, particularly those marginalized from the political structures and processes that arose after Mubarak’s resignation on Feb. 11. The square embodied the ideal that every citizen could participate in the rebuilding and reformation process of the Arab world’s most populous nation.

Tahrir Square gave the power back to the people — for the first time in the country’s rich history. In addition, the public forum offered Egyptians with an opportunity to exercise an unprecedented level of free speech and organizing. Tahrir offered a microcosm of what a democratic and pluralistic Egypt could look like.

Times are changing

This all has changed, however, in recent weeks.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal and Mubarak appointee Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, began cracking down on the protesters in Tahrir in July.

In August, the security forces formed a periphery around the square and restricted protesters and even onlookers from accessing specific areas of Tahrir. Egyptian blogger Sarrah Abdulrahman, who runs the popular Twitter feed “Sarrahsworld,” stated that the current regime’s “police were just as aggressive and intimidating as the officers under Mubarak.”

If these repressive steps reflect the intentions of the Supreme Council, then the people of Tahrir will face an extremely challenging trial in the weeks and months ahead.

Khaled A. Beydoun is the co-founder of the Egyptian American Rule of Law Association, which sent a group of Egyptian-American attorneys to Cairo in July. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by MCT Information Services.