Khaled Ali

Khaled Ali (also spelled Khaled Aly; , ; born 26 February 1972) is an Egyptian lawyer and activist. He is known for his advocacy for reform of government and private sector corruption and for promoting social justice and labor rights. He is the former head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), and co-founder of the Front for Defending Egyptian Protesters and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC).

Known as a "legendary anti-corruption crusader", Ali has been involved in several prominent court cases against the government, including a 2001 ruling that gave syndicates more freedoms, a 2010 case he won that mandated a higher minimum wage for workers, and a case leading to the nationalisation of three large companies that had been privatised. He won the "Egyptian Corruption Fighter" award in 2011.

Ali was an activist before, during, and after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. He has been involved in worker strikes before and since the downfall of Hosni Mubarak's regime, and has been an active supporter of the role of workers in the revolution and the labor mobilisation that took place during it. He has denounced violent acts by the police and military, and has represented revolutionaries and the families of those killed in court. He was against the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and supported postponing the drafting of a new constitution until after the 2012 election.

A latecomer to the 2012 presidential race, Ali announced his candidacy the day after he became eligible to run, making him the youngest candidate in the election. His platform was one of social and economic justice, including core issues such as regional economic strength, protecting natural resources, fighting corruption, addressing unemployment, and improving workers' rights. Ali laid great stress on education, which he believes will lift Egypt out of poverty. Having never belonged to any political party, he called himself the "candidate of the poor" was supported primarily by students, activists, farmers, and workers, generally on the left of the political spectrum.

Ali announced he would run for the 2018 presidential race, but ultimately withdrew.

Background Ali was born in Dakahlia Governorate to a modest rural family He enrolled at Zagazig University’s law school in 1990 and graduated in 1994. Upon graduating, he undertook an unpaid internship at a local law firm before co-founding the HMLC in 1999.

Activism under the Mubarak regime Ali has been a prominent labor activist and lawyer. He is the former head of the ECESR, a founding member of the HMLC, a founding member of the Front to Defend Egyptian Protesters (started in 2008), Al-Ahram Weekly called him a "legendary anti-corruption crusader". In 2011, he was given the "Egyptian Corruption Fighter" award by the Egyptians Against Corruption movement. His victory winning the renationalisation of large companies, sold by the former regime in corrupt deals, included retailer Omar Effendi, the Nile Cotton Weaving Company and several other factories. Ali also served on the legal team that halted the privatisation of Egypt's national health insurance and presided over the legal team and pension funds.

Ali is known for filing and winning a landmark court case in 2010 that forced the government to set a minimum wage commensurate with the cost of living; it was raised to 1,200 Egyptian pounds per month and covers all workers. In April 2010, there was a demonstration outside the cabinet office, where approximately 300 workers protested the government's privatisation policy and against the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), which is controlled by the government. Ali said at the time, "We'll give them a month. If after a month the verdict hasn't been applied in a manner acceptable to workers, all the workers forces taking part in this protest will stage repeated protests until it is implemented," Ali said.

Supporting strikes and the public sector

Throughout Ali's career, he has been a strong supporter of worker's strikes and public sector activism. In 2007, Ali noted the growing trend of strikes as a sign of political change: "Taboos were broken during the past few years of political ferment, and workers grew less afraid," he said. Speaking to a reporter in April 2008 about the general strike taking place, Ali noted that its purpose was not to harm the economy, stating that "the point was to make a strong statement and to take a stand."

Ali supported the December 2008 founding of the independent General Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Employees (RETA). In 2009, amid protests of the state-controlled ETUF and agitation for independent unions in a broad section of trades, Ali said of the tax authority and growing political action by workers in a number of sectors, "The RETA set the example for other workers and civil servants to follow. It's indeed the single most important independent political project in 2009." He also addressed the problem of Egyptian labor, distrust of political parties, which have tried to co-opt labor's causes, and the fear that demonstrations would be brutally suppressed by the government, stating that "there is also a tactical dimension to trying to avoid the wrath of the government and its security apparatus." Ali made the distinction between politics and political parties, however, citing the Muslim Brotherhood's control of professional syndicates, versus the intertwining of Egypt's progressive political movement and labor. "For years, labor constituted the social heart of the progressive political movement, which in turn served as the political brain for labor. That was important for the labor movement to articulate its discourse and negotiate its demands," Ali said.

Ali was interviewed in Cairo in February 2011 by a correspondent from Democracy Now!. Ali said that while middle class youth sparked the Arab Spring, which expressed the political will of the Egyptian people of different classes, the workers had set the stage. "Workers laid the ground for the emergence of this revolution, and I believe that any analysis which says otherwise is superficial," said Ali.

Ali has called on state authorities to allow workers to self-manage their companies when they are stalled, or when investors flee the country.

2011 Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath

Ali was active in the 2011 revolution, supporting worker's strikes and representing protesters and the families of martyrs against the government,

Between 11 February and mid-April 2011 alone, the SCAF tried more than 5,000 civilians before military tribunals in trials generally lasting between 20 and 40 minutes in which groups of five to 30 defendants were tried at a time. Acting on behalf of a Rasha Azab, a former military detainee, Ali was one of two lawyers who challenged the military's decision to try civilians before military tribunals by bringing a lawsuit to Egypt's Court of Administrative Justice.

In June 2011, Ali was heard by the Administrative Court regarding a lawsuit seeking to overturn Law 34/2011, passed by the SCAF and the Cabinet and which criminalized certain protests and strikes. Ali said, "Protests and strikes have always been workers' only weapon … since they have no ability to negotiate with the government — depriving them of this right is depriving them from voicing their suffering." He said further, "The law was billed as the 'freedom of work and preventing sabotage' law, while it is actually meant to prevent workers and poor people from protesting." In August 2011, Ali took part in a press conference held by 36 non-governmental organisations (NGO) to condemn a "fierce campaign" by the government and SCAF to limit protests. He criticised the Ministry of Social Solidarity for what he saw as their attempt to "monopolise" patriotism and decried the defamation of activists protesting against Mubarak and privatisation, as well as the practice of trying civilians before military tribunals as human rights violations committed by the Cabinet and SCAF.

2012 presidential candidacy

Announcement

On the evening of 27 February 2012, Ali held a press conference at the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo to announce his candidacy for president in the 2012 election, hours after announcing the press conference on Twitter. event, held one day after his 40th birthday, the minimum age eligible to run for the office. At the time, he was an independent and had never been a member of any political party.

Though known as an activist long involved with labor and social justice, Ali insisted that he does not speak for the revolution, which he said is incapable of being represented by any one person. He said he was running "as an independent young man who [has] sided with the poor" against military rule. and "We will realise our dreams."

Platform In his candidacy announcement, Ali declared that his entire platform was "built on the basis of social justice," saying it was "not just decoration" but rather his primary focus and guiding principle,

Ali criticised the transitional military government, which he said used violence to attack both youth and revolutionaries. Asked about allowing the "wheel of production" to turn in order to increase stability and reduce protests, Ali said, "Let the wheel of production stop until it turns with justice," pointing out that allowing production to return did not guarantee an improvement to the underlying problems causing the protests. "Under Mubarak, the wheel increased poverty of the poor while increasing the wealth of the rich," he said,

Supporters Ali draws his base of support from his prior work as a lawyer and activist, and his involvement in workers' rights and the 2011 revolution. Many of his supporters were students and activists who were active in the overthrow of the Mubarak regime.

Ali initially planned to run as a candidate in the 2014 presidential election. However, he withdrew his candidacy on 16 March 2014, after the passage of the presidential elections law, describing the election as a "farce" while also urging incumbent Abdel Fattah el-Sisi not to run and the army to stay out of politics.

In November 2017, Ali announced that he would run in the 2018 presidential election, but announced his withdrawal in January 2018, citing "government violations and unfair competition".

Ali continues to practice the law, mainly representing political cases, and many of the political figures of the Jan 25th revolution currently behind bars such as Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

Legal issues 2017 public indecency charge In September 2017, the Dokki Misdemeanor Court handed Ali a three-month prison sentence and ordered a bail of 1,000 Egyptian pounds for "offending public decency" while celebrating a court victory in which he successfully reversed a decision to transfer the sovereignty of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia. Ali denied the charge and said he would appeal the decision, with the defence team arguing that video evidence used against Ali had undergone "manipulation". In a statement, Amnesty International characterised the ruling as "a clear signal that the Egyptian authorities are intent on eliminating any rival who could stand in the way of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s victory [in the 2018 elections]."

In November 2017, Ali successfully appealed the ruling, on the grounds that the Dokki Misdemeanor Court had failed to hear the defense's arguments. In September 2018, the Dokki Misdemeanor Appeals Court upheld the ruling, but suspended his sentence for three years.

In February 2018, the Bread and Freedom Party, which Ali formed in 2013, announced that their investigative committee acquitted him of all charges, but Ali later announced his resignation from both the party and the ECESR, denying the allegations but apologising to the woman, stating that "just her thinking about me in this way and her writing an email of this nature means that I must offer an apology for the pain she experienced. Regardless of the results of the investigation, I bear part of the responsibility, which has prompted me to offer this apology."

2018 travel ban In October 2018, a judge issued an order banning Ali from travelling abroad over suspicions of links to a case dating back to late 2011 alleging foreign financing of Egyptian NGOs to harm national security.

Publications Saber Barakat and Khaled Ali, Our Insurance Rights, published by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights

Footnotes