Exposing Egypt’s Brutal Prisons and Media Under el-Sisi’s Regime

As Egypt’s Ramadan dramas in 2025 once again drown in themes of harassment, betrayal, nudity, and moral decay, opposition dramas produced abroad have taken a strikingly different path—bold, raw, and unflinchingly transparent. 

These productions paint a chilling portrait of Egypt as a nation trapped within the walls of a vast prison.

These dramas have not only captivated audiences but also laid bare, with surgical precision, the brutal realities of the head of the regime Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s prison system. 

With gripping authenticity, the performances have ignited public outrage, vividly portraying the torment endured behind bars in a way that is impossible to ignore.

Yet, as always, it reigned supreme. Viewer numbers on Mekameleen TV and social media platforms soared, dwarfing those of the Egyptian intelligence-backed "United Media" network, whose formulaic productions continue to sidestep the real concerns of ordinary Egyptians.

Critics have hailed Cell 65—a bold and gripping drama exposing the brutal reality of Egypt’s prison system—as more than just television. 

Airing on Mekameleen, it has been described as a "living narrative" that carries more weight than the reports of human rights organizations, capturing a nation imprisoned under el-Sisi’s rule.

The series “The Station,” starring the outspoken actor Amr Waked, premiered on Al Jazeera 360 platform, offering a scathing critique of the repetitive, soulless narratives pushed by Arab regimes on the Palestinian issue and Gaza’s devastation. 

It exposes the failure of state-controlled media, puppeteered by intelligence agencies, amidst a total absence of freedom of expression.

Prison Realities

Cell 65 serves as a stark reminder of Egypt’s human rights conditions, arguably the worst in the region, highlighting the unjust legal proceedings, the use of pretrial detention as punishment, and the relentless cycle of prisoners dying within the confines of the country's jails.

The series exposes the prison system as a fully entrenched apparatus of oppression, marked by complete isolation and the absence of any international pressure, due to the alignment of global powers' interests with el-Sisi regime's crackdown on dissent and the suppression of basic freedoms.

As Mekameleen TV stated, the series encapsulates the state of "Egypt in detention," unveiling the atrocities committed by el-Sisi government against political prisoners in what is described as the first of its kind.

Cell 65, a bold drama airing on the opposition channel Mekameleen, unflinchingly exposes the hellish reality of Egypt's prisons, shedding light on the real-life atrocities that unfold behind bars in a shockingly dramatic portrayal.

The series recounts the grim reality of Egypt's prisons, depicting the harsh conditions endured by detainees through a group of characters confined in a single cell, subjected to every form of psychological and physical abuse, vividly illustrating their suffering within the Egyptian prison system. 

The significance of Cell 65 lies in its rarity as a drama that delves into the real conditions of Egyptian prisons and the abuses within them, following in the footsteps of earlier attempts such as Al-Bari (The Innocent), Al-Karnak, We Are the Bus People, Waraa al-Shams (Behind the Sun), and others.

These works, which faced retaliation from the authorities and their figures, have remained etched in the collective memory of Egyptians. 

They captured the harsh realities and genuine suffering endured by the people during oppressive regimes, not dissimilar to the brutality of el-Sisi’s rule. 

They painted a vivid picture of life inside prisons and detention centers across different periods.

Docudrama Impact

The production was executed in the style of a docudrama, a genre that blends dramatic elements with historical facts. This approach allowed the series to recreate real events or true stories with a dramatic flair, effectively conveying the emotions and experiences of real-life individuals. 

This technique made the Egyptian opposition drama during Ramadan more impactful than human rights organizations' reports, despite rights activists acknowledging that the series "did not capture all the violations" faced by detainees in prisons.

These types of productions are common in film, radio, and television, serving as an effective means of documenting social and political events. 

Directed by Obada Elboghdadi, a documentary filmmaker and producer, the series adopts the docudrama style—documentary works interspersed with reenacted scenes. This approach was used to cover images the director could not directly access, while also making the film’s message and themes more accessible to viewers.

"It made the message incredibly direct, with a tragic portrayal reflecting the reality of prisons and detention centers in Egypt—perhaps even more painful and tragic than the depiction itself," said journalist Abdelmoneim Mahmoud in a Facebook post on March 6.

Director Obada Elboghdadi said of the series, "The world took notice with the victory of the revolution and the opening of the Sednaya prisons and the regime's security branches, revealing horrors that one could never have imagined in their worst nightmares. We heard stories that embodied the spirit of evil in the Assad regime and its practices, stained with the blood of its own people."

"But what no one has noticed, or perhaps what they deliberately ignore, is the existence of a regime (el-Sisi's in Egypt) even more wicked, just kilometers away in the same geographical space," he described on his Facebook account.

Obada Elboghdadi refers to the series as "perhaps not a direct reflection of the regime's practices, but a stone we throw to stir some awareness and shed a beam of light in the dark corners of the regime's prisons, where the lives of detainees have withered away under el-Sisi's vile regime, which continues to expand in its oppression and arrogance."

The platform "Batel" described the series as "at the forefront of the Ramadan drama race, offering a narrative that confronts the falsity of the regime."

It attributed the fabricated attack campaign against the series—accusing it of distorting Egypt’s image and exaggerating dramatic scenes—to “the significant space the series carved out for itself in the Ramadan race, amidst the overwhelming number of productions in Egypt and the vast disparity in resources.”

Prison Repression

The series' portrayal of the reality of prisons and detention centers in Egypt was not exaggerated but rather aimed at dissecting this reality through powerful and convincing performances by the actors involved.

These well-known figures chose to leave Egypt, sacrificing their fame to stand against the authoritarian regime and its crimes, aligning their consciences with their roles. As a result, their performances were both precise and reflective of the true reality, with their emotional expressions revealing a deep engagement and empathy for this repressive reality, as they, too, are its victims.

The cast includes Wagdy el-Araby, Mohamed Shoman, Hisham Abdullah, Mohamed Abdel Latif, Amr Mosad, Homam Hout, Emad kaliouby, and Salah Abdalla.

Actor Hisham Abdullah describes the series, saying, “Cell 65 highlights the relationship between the ruling regime and the Egyptian people, revealing the regime's weakness and its manipulation to sow division among the population, breaking their will by instilling fear and terror.”

The airing of the series coincided with human rights reports and harrowing accounts from former detainees, including the well-known Ahmed Abu Doma, revealing stark violations and the suffering of leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Communication is prohibited for those in the "elements' floor," which houses figures such as Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Mahmoud Ezzat, Ahmed Abdelati, Mohamed el-Katatni, Mohamed Wahdan, and others.

Due to the ban on family visits and the lack of any updates about their loved ones for the past eight years, they remain unaware of whether they have grandchildren or the fate of their children, as they are cut off from court sessions and the prosecution, with interactions now taking place "online" and behind thick, monitored glass. 

The repressive regime of el-Sisi has made deliberate efforts to isolate them from the world, placing them in solitary confinement cells and even relocating entire groups to intensify their isolation. They are subjected to 24-hour surveillance by cameras, their privacy violated, while medical neglect—responsible for the deaths of dozens—continues, with no regard for their advanced age or heart conditions.

Because the series struck a nerve with el-Sisi’s regime, its supporters, and those hostile to the Islamic current, some have tried to discredit it through online trolling. 

They have labeled it as a propaganda piece for the Muslim Brotherhood, while others, like the anti-Islam writer Khaled Montaser, criticized it for lacking female representation, despite the fact that the events unfold inside prisons. 

Critics argue that what has irked el-Sisi's regime the most is the alternative narrative presented in the series. 

While state-sanctioned Egyptian dramas depict prisons as five-star hotels, where human rights are fully respected and inmates enjoy their complete rights, the series offers a stark contrast, portraying a much darker and more brutal reality in an attempt to polish the image of the regime.

The dramas overseen by security and intelligence agencies fail to depict the torture or abuse endured by detainees and prisoners. 

This is precisely what was shattered by the dramatic portrayal in cell 65, which succeeded in breaking free from the boundaries set by the Egyptian regime for its television content, offering a stark glimpse into the harsh reality faced by the incarcerated.

On March 6, 2025, Amnesty International confirmed that Egyptian authorities have escalated their crackdown to the point of punishing detainees for protesting and going on hunger strikes in response to the harsh and inhumane conditions of their detention.

In a statement issued on January 20, 2025, 11 human rights organizations declared that Egyptian authorities "remain indifferent to addressing the human rights crisis or even acknowledging its existence," and view themselves as "unburdened by the prospect of international criticism."

This includes the repeated extension of the detention of human rights activist Hoda Abdel Moneim, who has been recharged with a new case for the fourth time after completing her sentence, as well as the recurring issue with Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, who is held in solitary confinement, serving a 15-year sentence set to end in 2033.

Yet, he has been added as a defendant in a new case, which, according to human rights organizations, sends a clear "message from the authorities that he will not leave prison alive."

Human rights organizations documented the deaths of 50 political detainees throughout 2024 in Egypt’s prisons and detention centers, attributing their deaths to deliberate medical neglect and deplorable conditions of confinement.

The Egyptian Network for Human Rights revealed that the conditions in detention facilities "put the lives of thousands of detainees at risk," leading to multiple documented fatalities. 

These deaths, recorded and published, affected Egyptians held in pretrial detention across various police stations, detention centers, and prisons nationwide.

Media Struggles

Despite not suffering from the stifling celebrity blacklist imposed by the regime under the head of the regime el-Sisi on opposition artists, thanks to his roles in numerous foreign films, actor Amr Waked’s series al-Mahatta (The Station), produced by the Al Jazeera 360 platform, delves into the political struggles of the Arab world. 

Waked plays the role of journalist Jaber Dabous, who takes the helm as editor-in-chief of a channel named "al-Qimmah," which turns out to be affiliated with the Arab League.

As the series unfolds, it reveals that Dabous’ appointment coincides with the launch of the Operation al-Aqsa Flood, a Palestinian resistance offensive against “Israel” on October 7, 2023. 

With the Western media’s clear bias towards “Israel” and the passive stance of Arab nations, the newly appointed editor faces the enormous challenge of ensuring Arab viewers are exposed to the true story.

However, Dabous quickly discovers that the channel, as a wing of the Arab League, is the least effective in the region. The network is steeped in bureaucratic stagnation and driven by non-journalistic motives. 

As Dabous tries to reform the channel, he is confronted with the grim reality of the "Arab League" as a powerless figurehead, unable to confront Gaza’s genocide or effectively engage with the failure of official Arab media in the Operation al-Aqsa Flood

His journey is further complicated by the private interests of influential figures within the institution, resistant to any change in the channel’s dismal status quo. 

The significance of the series lies in its exploration of the hidden dynamics within media institutions, offering a dark portrayal of the journalistic world that viewers rarely see, as described by Al Jazeera.

Instead of focusing on current events, employees are preoccupied with investigating the new editor’s political inclinations, his family background, and even betting on his forthcoming decisions. 

When the Lebanese "Bank al-Amanah" — located beneath the channel’s Beirut office — is looted for the 33rd time, the staff shows no interest in covering the story, fixating instead on official conferences and trivial matters, far removed from real journalism.