Around sixty people were arrested in Egypt, suspected of having joined an opposition group linked to the “Gen Z” movement on the online platform Discord, a lawyer for some of those accused said on Wednesday.
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They are being prosecuted in particular for membership in a terrorist group, dissemination of false information and misuse of social networks, listed Shorouk Sallam, head of the legal team of the human rights organization. Egyptian Front for Human Rights.
“The arrests began at the end of last year, but from mid-May the pace accelerated and now 60 people have been arrested” in total, she explained.
The people arrested had joined a server called GenZ002, founded by an Egyptian activist living abroad, Anas Habib. He calls on Egyptians to express their opposition through graffiti or the distribution of leaflets. An online poll calling for the dismissal of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi was also launched, according to her.
Anas Habib was arrested in 2025 in Europe, for an alleged attack against the Egyptian embassy in Amsterdam, then for an alleged threat against a visit by the Egyptian president to Brussels.
The Discord platform, popular with young people, was temporarily blocked in Egypt earlier this year. She played a central role in the “Generation Z” protests that occurred in Nepal and Morocco last year.
Discord
Discord
Cairo is frequently criticized for human rights violations and attacks on freedom of expression, notably through a vast crackdown against online content creators that has landed young influencers and comedians in prison.
“Gen Z”, which initially referred to a generation born between the end of the 1990s and the end of the 2000s, now refers to eruptive movements of young people frustrated by inequalities which in 2025 have multiplied demonstrations and shaken governments on three continents where young people are numerous (Africa, Asia, Latin America). They brought down two of them, in Nepal and Madagascar.
