Egypt: an economic geography From foreign rule · 41
and divorced from his wife against their will after he had published an analysis
of the Islamist discourse. The recurrent accusation for intellectuals expressing
critical views is that they are apostates, the punishment for which sanctioned
by Islamic shari’a is death, to be carried out either by the government or by
an individual Muslim where the government fails to act. The existence of
autonomous associations representing the citizens’ interests seems to indicate
the presence of a civil society. But the lack of state respect for them and
acts of intolerance are experienced again and again. Amnesty International
identified over thirty ‘prisoners of conscience’ jailed in 2000 alone who had
exercised their right to freedom of expression (see Tariq Hassan-Gordon, ‘AI
says rights are under attack’, <http://metimes.com/2K1/issue2001–8/eg/
ai_says_rights.htm>).