The Freedom Initiative - Legacy Account

On August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces violently stormed two sit-ins in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares and carried out one of the largest mass killings of protesters in recent history. The massacre marked a turning point for human rights in Egypt, heralding in one of the worse human rights crises in the country's modern history.



📣Ten years later, roughly 60,000 political dissidents are languishing behind bars and the human rights crisis in the country continues to deteriorate. To date, not a single perpetrator has been held accountable for the massacre.



On Thursday, August 10 at 12:00 P.M. ET, join the Freedom Initiative for a virtual panel as we discuss the ways in which the Rabaa massacre represents a paradigm shift in the Egyptian government’s crackdown on dissent and how and why efforts to combat growing repression have not always borne fruit. Panelists include former congressman and vocal advocate for human rights in Egypt Tom Malinowski; Andrea Prasow, Executive Director of the Freedom Initiative; human rights defender and former political prisoner Hassan Elbanna Taher, whose brother was killed in the aftermath of the Rabaa massacre; and Fajr Abdelnasser, whose father was killed during the Rabaa dispersal.



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**UPDATED TIME AND DATE: Saturday, July 8, 2023 at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia after Maghreb Prayer**



On September 10, 2017, Dr. Salman al-Odah, a respected scholar of Islamic law, was arrested alongside dozens of writers, religious scholars, journalists and activists in a sweeping crackdown in Saudi Arabia just months after current Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) seized power in a palace coup. His crime? Advocating for peaceful relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Twitter.

In prison, al-Odah has faced physical and psychological torture and has become partially deaf and blind as a result.

His son, Abdullah Alaoudh, is a prominent human rights defender and the Saudi Director of the Freedom Initiative who has advocated tirelessly for his father's freedom. On Saturday, July 8, 2023, join Abdullah Alaoudh at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia for a discussion about the wrongful imprisonment of his father, human rights in Saudi Arabia and how you can help.

To learn more about the Freedom Initiative's work to free political prisoners, visit: www.thefreedomi.org