http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/world/middleeast/egypt-freezes-assets-of-several-human-rights-advocates.html 2016-09-17 17:29:22 Egypt Freezes Assets of Several Human Rights Advocates As part of a criminal investigation, a court froze the assets of five prominent activists and three nongovernmental organizations that document state abuses. === CAIRO — An Egyptian court dealt a heavy blow to the country’s human rights activists on Saturday by freezing the assets of five prominent human rights defenders and three nongovernmental organizations. The freeze is part of a criminal The human rights defenders are accused of using money acquired illegally from foreign governments to spread lies and harm national security. The charges can result in a sentence of life in prison. “We don’t regret what we did, and we won’t be silenced,” Mr. Bahgat, who now works as a journalist, told reporters outside the courtroom. “This order was expected, although we fought it.” Successive Egyptian governments have tried to silence their critics, but matters have grown worse for activists under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Mr. Sisi, a former general, rose to power after Mr. Sisi’s crackdown, which at first singled out Islamist youths, is now mostly aimed at the liberal groups that spearheaded the country’s 2011 uprising, which forced Hosni Mubarak, “Today’s asset freeze is huge blow to civil society,” Heba Morayef, the associate director of Egypt’s leading human rights organization, the But Saturday’s court order may spell the end for many groups. “These organizations won’t be able to pay rent or salaries,” Mr. Bahgat said. He called the move “a clever way of forcing them to shut down without having to order their closure and deal with a scandal.” Mr. Eid, one of those whose assets were frozen Saturday, said he did not know what would happen to his organization, the “If they decide to consider Anhri as my personal property, for example, then they can freeze its accounts,” Mr. Eid said. The same would apply to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which Mr. Bahgat founded. “They didn’t say anything yet,” Mr. Eid said. “We will just have to wait and see what they will decide.”