Egypt releases three detained for satirising inflation

Egypt has released three social media users who were detained after posting a satirical song about the country’s rampant inflation on TikTok, according to rights groups on Sunday.

The group released a satirical video on TikTok in March. The band imitated instruments with household items and parodied a romantic song, changing the lyrics to lament rising food prices.

The three comedians were summoned by state security in Assiut, 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Cairo, on March 31, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

EIPR said they appeared before the Cairo prosecutor on April 18-19, “when they were accused of belonging to a terrorist organization and spreading false news”.

Such allegations are routinely levelled against dissidents in Egypt.

Egypt’s annual inflation rate hit 12.1 percent in March, driven by high oil and food prices. Analysts fear prices could spike further due to the impact of the war in Ukraine on global wheat supply.

Egypt’s currency has also sagged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, further fuelling inflation.

Rights groups estimate that some 60,000 political prisoners are being held in Egypt.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reactivated the dormant Presidential Pardon Committee last month, and Egypt on April 24 released 41 political opponents from provisional detention.

Officials announced three days later that Sisi had pardoned 3,273 prisoners, including prominent journalist Hossam Moniss.

Reporters Without Borders published its 2022 World Press Freedom Index last week, ranking Egypt 168 out of 180 countries, a two-spot drop from last year’s score of 166.