Final defeat for the forces of Egypt's revolution?

"Do you know why we Egyptians started the revolution?," I was asked by Ali, an Egyptian activist whose name has been changed for this story. Without waiting for my reply, he answered: "Because we wanted to have the 'Mubarak' metro station's name changed to 'The Martyrs…"

This happened briefly after Hosni Mubarak's acquittal at the end of November. We were sitting in a café close to Tahrir Square. Ali tried to make fun of the former dictator's triumph but neither he nor I felt like laughing. For this verdict marks a new - and bitter - turning point for Egypt, almost three-and-a-half years after the revolution.

Situation exacerbated

During the winter of 2011, at the height of the revolution, Ali was one of those who took to the streets, putting his life on the line calling for freedom, democracy and social justice. The young man saw people dying on Tahrir Square. He was arrested twice in 2012. I don't want to use his real name because he and other activists are in even more danger since president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi came to power. Some of Ali's friends are currently imprisoned. "The situation is much worse than under Mubarak," Ali says. "Mind you, the martyrs did receive their metro station." Ali resorts to a grim sense of humor to vent his disappointment. Above all, his remark is a reflection of the helplessness of young revolutionaries in Egypt.

Ali and his friends are powerless. They lost their power which they had displayed on the streets. Nowadays, state security forces are in control of those streets, cracking down on every major demonstration or preventing them from taking place. On November 29th, several thousand people spontaneously gathered close to Tahrir Square in the wake of Mubarak's acquittal, in order to protest against the verdict.

This was the largest gathering of people since the overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi at the end of June 2013. I was there, too, to get an idea of the situation. The official response came swiftly. Without warning and without securing escape routes, Police fired tear gas grenades into the crowd. Some of them even used live ammunition. While escaping, I could see that several protesters had fallen to the ground unconsciously, knocked out by tear gas. According to the authorities two people died that night, and at least fifteen were wounded.

Civil society choked

Like many other similar incidents, this escalation of violence was not investigated by the authorities, and those responsible were not brought to justice. There is no doubt that the Egyptian state relies on violence and repression. Ali got this message, too. He has been working as a lawyer for an NGO which repeatedly put the finger on human rights violations in Egypt and defended numerous critics of the regime in court. However, Ali will soon lose his job because his organization has to close down.

Community work was a result of the 2011 revolution, Ali says: it had established a platform for fighting for democracy and human rights and keeping tabs on the government. Like Ali, many other democracy activists worked for NGOs in the wake of the revolution. "But this is now a thing oft he past," he says. "The government wants to be in full control." Many NGOs are financed from abroad, but this is viewed by the rulers as meddling with Egypt's internal affairs, the young lawyer says.

Critical reporting unwelcome

"Meddling with Egypt's internal affairs" - that's how authorities categorize the work of foreign journalists. Several were visited by security forces, others were advised not to produce "negative" coverage, including interviews with people opposed to the regime, criticizing the judicial system or reporting on poverty and social inequality.

Filming in public places is not allowed, unless journalists - in addition to the usual accreditation - get a filming permit issued by the Interior Ministry. But even this does not guarantee work without interruptions: On numerous occasions, I was taken away and questioned by masked and armed police officers.

"This 'meddling' is just an excuse," Ali believes, because criticism from local media is just as undesirable: "By contrast, media loyal to the regime may freely advertise al-Sissi's policies." Ali has lost all hope - he would very much like to leave the country. "But where should I go? You can't go anywhere with an Egyptian passport," he says, gloomily. The countries he would like to go to require a visa, regulations for which are very strict, except in Turkey and Lebanon - normally. Now, however, in order to enter these two countries, one needs a special permit issued by the Egyptian authorities - the same authorities Ali prefers to steer clear of.