Egypt arrests author, publisher over book on economy

Egypt has arrested an economist and his publisher over a book that challenged President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's economic policies, a lawyer said Tuesday, the latest in a wave of detentions in recent years targeting all forms of dissent.

Prize-winning economist Abdel-Khaleq Farouq and his publisher, Ibrahim el-Khateib, were detained Sunday. Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, a lawyer for the author, said the two are accused of spreading "fake news," which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

The book entitled "Is Egypt Really a Poor Country?" was posted online by activists. Authorities seized 185 copies of an initial 200-copy run, which had not yet been distributed.

The book contains scathing criticism of el-Sissi's economic policies, accusing the general-turned-president of lacking the vision needed to remedy Egypt's economic woes.

Farouq blames the country's poor economy on what he calls the military's monopoly of power since 1952, when officers toppled the monarchy.

The book's thesis is primarily a repudiation of an assertion made by el-Sissi that Egypt was a poor country that could no longer afford costly state subsidies on key commodities and services, for decades a cornerstone of state policy to help the poor make ends meet.

In the book's introduction, the author claims that el-Sissi's assertion on Egypt's poverty "exposed blatant ignorance of the realistic and untapped capabilities in Egypt's economy and society and the lack of vision capable of exploiting these abilities and potential."