“Glory to the unknown!” That was the slogan in Egypt during the revolution, sparked by people whose faces no one would recognize. One of these unknown revolutionaries was Noubi, a young man in his twenties from the Abdeen district of Cairo, who helped ignite the revolution and organize demonstrations.

I met him after the second injury to Ahmad Harara, the activist blinded by the notorious “eye-snipers” during Egypt’s two revolutions. The first was hit by Hosni Mubarak’s men, and he lost the other during the infamous violence on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in November 2011.

“Glory to the unknown!” That was the slogan in Egypt during the revolution, sparked by people whose faces no one would recognize. One of these unknown revolutionaries was Noubi, a young man in his twenties from the Abdeen district of Cairo, who helped ignite the revolution and organize demonstrations.

I met him after the second injury to Ahmad Harara, the activist blinded by the notorious “eye-snipers” during Egypt’s two revolutions. The first was hit by Hosni Mubarak’s men, and he lost the other during the infamous violence on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in November 2011.

Noubi has participated in all the revolution’s phases, starting with Mohamed Mahmoud, the Cabinet and Port Said setbacks, to the trials of Mubarak and his Interior Minister Habib El-Adly, the victory of Mohamed Morsi, and the Etihadiya demonstrations. He was always on the streets, even when incidents of harassment and mass rape increased. In fact, Noubi was among those organizing demonstrations against these atrocities.

His joy after the success of each event sparked hope even in the darkest days. But now, three years on, Noubi is facing a 15-year prison sentence, issued in absentia. He and his comrades, including Alaa Abdelfattah, were sentenced in connection with the Shura Council clashes. Many have to come to see Noubi’s sentence as a symbolic of what has happened in Egypt. He symbolizes all Egyptians, and his sentence is widely seen as unjust.

The revolutionary office worker

I quit my job and cut off all contact with my former colleagues after the start of the revolution, both at private companies and government institutions. I knew of the harassment of my revolutionary comrades at their work places, but I escaped it myself.

Last June, on the first day at my new job, I visited old colleagues and was excited to see a sign reading, “No to military trials for civilians” at one of the company’s offices. At that time, Morsi’s regime was in control and the Muslim Brotherhood’s constitution was being framed, when demands to stop civilians being tried before military courts were refused.

One employee in that office was Wael Metwally a young, smart, creative programmer in his thirties, was a father of two children – he had taught them revolutionary songs at the Etihadiya demonstrations. With his faith in Egypt’s youth, he believes the revolutionaries would have been able to overthrow the Brotherhood without the intervention of the military.

El-Sisi’s campaign against the revolution

It was clear that the Tamarod Movement was being used by the military establishment to mobilize against the Brotherhood, and that the military believed they would be able to monopolize many state institutions without the rebels, as well as intentionally create fuel and electricity crises. The young office worker never imagined that he would be sentenced to 15 years in prison, that he would be separated from his children, whose school concerts he regularly attended.

The new president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has not only waged his campaign of harassment against Alaa Abdelfattah, Ahmed Maher, and Doma, but against all the unknown soldiers of the revolution. He will never be able to justify it, as the government usually does, by distorting facts and fabricating accusations of treason. We all share responsibility for the freedom of Noubi from Abdeen and Wael Metwally. Their repression is ours and their imprisonment with 40,000 other detainees will not provide Egypt with any more security.

The mistake made by Morsi and by the military council under Mubarak was to alienate all classes of society. The more the state tried to impose its control, the more injustice there was. Things will always be taken personally when bitterness is deepened in the hearts of the detainees’ families and friends. El-Sisi would say he is not in debt to anyone, but he is in debt – for the suppression he is practicing against the Egyptian people.