On the eve of ten years since the start of the Egyptian revolution, the country is under the strict control of Marshal al-Sisi.

The police are omnipresent, opponents of regimes are labeled terrorists and torture is systematized.

But the revolution was a trigger for many Egyptians who began a 180 degree turn in their lives. 

DECRYPTION

An obelisk hidden under a tarpaulin right in the middle of Tahrir Square in Cairo, like an allegory of the country.

On January 25, 2011, less than a month after the start of the Tunisian "jasmine revolution", the Egyptians took to the streets to protest against the regime of then president Hosni Mubarak.

For 17 days, thousands of people occupy Tahrir Square, one of the main places in the Egyptian capital, to end the police state, get the president's resignation and democracy.

A popular groundswell that wins. 

The symbols of the revolution under guard

Ten years after the first gathering, Tahrir Square is still a huge roundabout in central Cairo, where pedestrians have no choice but to slalom between the waves of cars.

But for those who knew this "place of the Liberation" in 2011, everything has changed.

Rows of palm trees, benches, an underground car park, grass and above all, right in the middle, this obelisk from the time of Ramses 2 hidden under a tarpaulin for a year, and surrounded by four sphinxes also hidden in wooden crates.

Monuments guarded by soldiers that prevent anyone from getting too close. 

These symbols of the Egyptian revolution are under the full control of Marshal al-Sisi.

After driving out the Muslim Brotherhood, since 2013 he has been leading an unprecedented crackdown against civil society.

Opponents, journalists, lawyers, are qualified as terrorists.

A repression that did not care for the champion of karate, Khaled Saddouma, who lives in a popular suburb of Cairo.

But six years ago, she came "to break down the iron door of her apartment which was filled with masked and armed police officers up to their necks".

>> READ ALSO - 

Arab Spring: "We have only experienced the first jolt of a real revolution"

State security did not strike at random, the men were looking for the two sons of Safaa and Khaled, two teenagers aged 17 and 19.

"They pulled Ahmed out of his bed and he disappeared for more than two months," Khaled Saddouma told the microphone of Europe 1. "He suffered all forms of torture, but the most common was electricity" , affirms for its part Safaa.

Organized violence that fell on this family because the two teenagers "appeared in the photos of the marriage of a young man arrested in a demonstration," Khaled said.

"Everyone who was on it was arrested, but my sons had no connection to politics."

Khaled and his wife expected to see their sons reappear after a few months, but Ahmed was sentenced to death.

It took a campaign to put pressure on and the intervention of six different embassies for the young man to see his sentence reduced to 15 years in prison.

"There is no justice, it is only politics," says Khaled. 

An omnipresent police force, systematic torture

On the eve of ten years since the start of the revolution, the police presence increased in the streets of Cairo.

As every year with the approach of January 25, controls are increasing and we even see visits to apartments which lead to arrests.

Overall, during the month of January, young Egyptians avoid going through Tahrir Square.

Because the NGOs, the UN and even the European Parliament are unanimous: the repression is now much more important than under Hosni Mubarak.

Torture has become systematic and the missing numbered in the thousands. 

Desperation seized the people in the face of this regime which imprisons, consolidates the powers of the security apparatus and of the president, who changed the constitution so that it remains until 2030. Despite everything, the activists do not regret not the revolution, because no one had planned it, recalls Laila Soueif, activist from the start.

"On January 25, nobody, not even the organizers, thought that they would be so numerous, that they would arrive as far as Tahrir Square. And there, people shouted 'down the regime', 'releases Mubarak' . It was spontaneous. "

In a locked country, leading a physical revolution therefore seems impossible.

But mentalities are changing.

For many, the revolution was a trigger: if the dictator Mubarak, in place for 30 years, could fall in a few days, then everything else can change.

Some then operate a 180-degree turn in their lives, such as Mohsen Mohammed, a business student arrested at 19 for trying to protect a student beaten by a police officer.

He spent five years behind bars and released his first collection of poems.

"Of course, the revolution failed, but it is still there," he says.

"For me, that means looking for myself, being in tune with myself and the world around me."

Mohsen Mohamed, sentenced to 5 years in prison, he writes his first collection of poetry behind bars.

Internal revolutions and feminist mobilizations

Real internal revolutions which herald profound changes in Egyptian society, explains researcher Youssef el Chazli.

"If we look at the life of the people who took part in the revolution, it had fundamental effects on their way of being, of conceiving their place in society. There is a questioning of the way of educating them. children, to value their hobbies, the arts, the theater, to also be a little more critical of religion ... It's all part of the later lives of the revolution. " 

These changes are found in particular on social networks, where mobilizations, for example feminists, have multiplied in this country where 60% of the population is under 30 years old.

The denunciation of gender-based violence has thus become a daily subject.

Before 2011, it was a very minority fight or monopolized by Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of the dictator, who used it to give herself a modern image.

But this year, a Moroccan singer prosecuted for rape could not perform in Cairo, because thousands of young women mobilized.

Journalists and lawyers have been fired after harassment complaints, while a famous actor publicly supported his transgender son.

Each controversy is enormous and helps to break taboos. 

A degraded economy

Economically, the Egyptian situation has deteriorated.

Poverty and inequalities have increased in the country and millions of families survive thanks to the Egyptians who go to work abroad, especially in the Gulf countries.

Proof of this is that the remittances of these expatriates reached 28 billion dollars last year, or 8% of the Egyptian GDP.

But this rent is not eternal, because Saudi Arabia now wants to prioritize these citizens.