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Egypt Steps Up Security Ahead of ‘January Revolution’ Anniversary

Protesters celebrate in Tahrir Square after the announcement of Mubarak's resignation (file photo: Reuters)
Protesters celebrate in Tahrir Square after the announcement of Mubarak's resignation (file photo: Reuters)
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Egypt Steps Up Security Ahead of ‘January Revolution’ Anniversary

Protesters celebrate in Tahrir Square after the announcement of Mubarak's resignation (file photo: Reuters)
Protesters celebrate in Tahrir Square after the announcement of Mubarak's resignation (file photo: Reuters)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi extended the nationwide state of emergency for three more months starting Sunday.

The security services increased their measures ahead of the tenth anniversary of the “January 25 Revolution” and the 69th anniversary of the National Police Day.

The parliament approved on Thursday a presidential decree extending the state of emergency.

According to the decree, the armed forces and the police will take the necessary measures to fight terrorism and its financing, maintain security nationwide, protect public and private properties, and preserve the lives of citizens.

Egypt has been under a nationwide state of emergency since April 2017 when twin church bombings in Alexandria killed dozens of people.

Since then, exceptional measures scheduled for three months have been announced, then extended with short intervals in between to avoid violating the constitution, which requires a popular referendum if the state of emergency exceeds six consecutive months.

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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.