Egypt: Father of prominent anti-Sisi YouTuber arrested by police
The father of a popular Egyptian YouTuber has been arrested, two years after his brothers were also jailed.
"My father Mohamed el-Sharif, 74 years old, has just been detained," tweeted Abdullah el-Sharif on Monday.
"Now you have all of the three [loved ones], my father and two brothers. I have nothing to lose."
Sharif's show, which has millions of subscribers, is generally critical of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the ex-army general who became president after ousting his predecessor Mohamed Morsi in a military coup in 2013.
Sharif's brothers, Amr and Ahmed, were seized from their family home in Alexandria in March 2020 and have not been seen since.
At the time Sharif, who is based abroad, had broadcast a video that appeared to show Egyptian military abuses in Sinai.
That same year his father was forced on to state TV to denounce Sharif.
Since Sisi became president in 2014, Egyptian security services routinely arrest family members of exiled dissidents and critics who are publicly critical of human rights violations under his rule.
A report by Human Rights Watch in November accused the Sisi government of “reprisals” against relatives of dozens of exiled activists, including arrests, travel bans and passport confiscation.
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