Late last month, President Mohamed Morsi ordered the release of dozens of Gamma Islamia members— an Islamic group whose aim was to overthrow the last Egyptian government—who had been convicted on terrorism-related charges during Hosni Mubarak’s rule.

Egyptian security officials linked the latest events in Sinai, which left 16 Egyptian border soldiers killed, to Morsi’s release of dozens of those imprisoned for terrorism, which was issued only a few days before the events in Sinai.

Late last month, President Mohamed Morsi ordered the release of dozens of Gamma Islamia members— an Islamic group whose aim was to overthrow the last Egyptian government—who had been convicted on terrorism-related charges during Hosni Mubarak’s rule.

Egyptian security officials linked the latest events in Sinai, which left 16 Egyptian border soldiers killed, to Morsi’s release of dozens of those imprisoned for terrorism, which was issued only a few days before the events in Sinai.

Ahmad Abdulqader was one of those prisoners released after spending 18 years on death row.

“We have nothing to do with Sinai events,” Abdulqader said. “Everyone knows that the Gamaa Islamia prisoners had been convicted of framed charges during Mubarak’s reign.  The first task of any revolution is to release political prisoners of whatever affiliation.”

Death row

Abdulqader, thirty-odd years old, entered political life during the 1990s, which was marked by confrontations between armed Islamic groups and Egyptian state forces.  During that period, hundreds of anti-government Islamic group members were killed and arrested in large numbers.

Abdulqader was a member of Gamaa Islamia in Suez and was arrested in 1993 while attending a Gamaa Islamia symposium held in a mosque, entitled ‘No to Mubarak.’  The event ended with security forces storming the mosque and arresting those in attendance.

Abdulqader and two others were sentenced to death in what he claimed were “fabricated charges,” of murdering an officer.  He spent 18 years on death row until the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution.

“The former regime used us as hostages to negotiate with Gamaa Islamia,” Abdulqader said.  “We were tortured, our women were humiliated and widowed and our children became orphans.”

The Gamaa Islamia prisoners should be released first, he added, “because we spent our entire lives in prison.”

Embracing non-violence

Abdulqader returned to political life as soon as he was released and participated in a charity fair organized by the Building and Development Party, which includes a large number of the Gamaa Islamia members in its ranks. “We have confessed our violence-related mistakes, but the former regime hasn’t and wouldn’t acknowledge its crimes against us.”

Abdulqader’s political views have not changed after his prison experience.  His is still affiliated with Gamaa Islamia and he believes that the Muslim Brotherhood is of an established political history. The difference between the Brotherhood and Gamaa Islamia is of diversity and orientation rather than of negation, he said.

“This current has come to power through democracy and we are convinced of a democracy in line with our traditions. We won’t apply the traditions of the West in electing, for example, homosexuals.”

He does not yet know how far he will reach into the political scene but Abdulqader considered his experiences to have made him better fit to political life than before.  “Intellectual revisions are an enriching experience,” he said.  

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