This Egyptian Activist Was Jailed and Tortured for Wearing a Shirt That Says "a Nation without Torture "

It is six years since the outbreak of the 18-day revolution in Egypt which swept the autocrat, Hosni Mubarak, from power. But human rights campaigners say the situation in the country is now far worse than before the uprising, as Orla Guerin reports from Cairo.



With every step he takes, Mahmoud Mohammed Hussein is reminded of the price he paid for wanting freedom and democracy in Egypt.


The 21-year-old has a pronounced limp and relies on a crutch - a legacy, he says, of beatings during almost 800 days in a series of prisons. Ten months have passed since his release, but he still appears frail.


Mahmoud is one of thousands who have been detained in recent years under Egypt's latest strongman, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.


As army chief he led the military overthrow of Egypt's first democratically-elected president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013.


Since then Mr Sisi has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent - ensnaring Islamists, liberals, journalists, aid workers, and icons of the revolution of 2011.