Cairo (AFP)
The most famous of them, Alaa Abdel Fattah, 39 years old including seven spent in prison under the regime of Hosni Mubarak then under all the powers which succeeded one another in Egypt until that, current, of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi , is releasing a book in English this week.
Published by a British publishing house, "You have not yet been defeated", the work - a compilation of writings discarded on paper since the "revolution" of 2011 which has overthrown Mubarak - has even been prefaced by Canadian author Naomi Klein.
"Her writings have different tones: technical, passionate or poetic," says her mother Laila Soueif, a leading figure in human rights in Egypt.
"The form may differ, but basically it only speaks of one thing: justice," she further explained to AFP.
From Nasser to Sissi
The last time this math teacher saw her son, he had just been brought in an armored van from his high-security prison to an exceptional court which, after more than two years in preventive detention, finally notified him of the reason. of his confinement: "dissemination of false news".
For Elliott Colla, professor of Arabic literature at Georgetown University, "you can't understand Egypt if you don't understand what's going on in its prisons."
Already under Gamal Abdel Nasser, a leading figure in the Arab world from the 1950s until his death in 1970, Egypt's prisons have seen their share of writers chronicle the life of a prisoner of a ruthless regime with his opposition.
The famous Sonallah Ibrahim or Gamal Ghitani left terrible writings, but "if Nasser's prisons were frightening, people could publicly express their solidarity with the inmates and send them books, food or clothes," Mr. Colla with AFP.
"It's very different under Sissi."
Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah during an interview with AFP at his home in Cairo on May 17, 2019 Khaled DESOUKI AFP / Archives
This scholar also translated the poems of Alaa Abdel Fattah's companion in misfortune, Ahmed Douma, from pieces of paper smuggled into lawyers.
The now 36-year-old activist was one of the figures of the 2011 "revolution". Two years later, he was jailed on six different charges and has since been in solitary confinement.
His book, "Curly", published by an Egyptian publishing house, was exhibited at the Cairo International Book Fair in July.
Then quickly withdrawn for "security reasons".
Poems in the parlor
"We were happy because Ahmed had a goal with this publication project," recalls his brother Mohamed, who sent him a copy of the book published in prison.
He does not know if his package has finally reached its recipient, he told AFP.
"But he quickly became disillusioned when he learned that his book was banned at the Book Fair."
Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah during his trial in Cairo, May 2015 Khaled DESOUKI AFP / Archives
From hopes to disillusionment, the Douma family also believed in a happy ending when they learned earlier this month that Ahmed could apply for parole because he had served half of his sentence.
But the prison administration told them the price to pay for submitting the conditional request: six million Egyptian pounds, or nearly 330,000 euros.
For the moment, Ahmed Douma is therefore still in a cell where he has already caught Covid-19 twice, assures his brother.
In one of his poems written in isolation, the activist says: "no time for depression, no chance for sadness, the torrent is pouring out".
It's Ahmed all spitting, swears his brother.
"At court hearings, we were the only two to smile and even laugh on both sides of the thick plate of glass" of the accused's box, he says: "Everyone else around was crying but we have the same character ".
In a country which today has 60,000 prisoners of conscience, according to human rights NGOs, and has known generations of intellectuals trained in prisons, these writings are far from isolated, assures Mr. Colla.
"Prison literature is not a minor art in modern Arabic literature," he says. "In some places, it is even the dominant genre of the best productions."
© 2021 AFP