SHOTLIST:

Havana - 12 September, 2007

1. Cuba's Minister of Culture Abel Prieto and book editors at conference room in International Press Centre:

2. Close up, book on table

3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Abel Prieto, Cuban Minister of Culture:

"It is truly unacceptable that a case of violation of elemental justice should be hidden from North American public opinion as well as much of the public opinion of the world. This is because the large media companies that form opinions and tell people what they should be concerned with, do not pay attention to this case and to this process and do not reflect it."

5. Audience

6. Close up, relatives of the Cuban Five

7. Close up box with new books

8. People receiving book

FILE - February, 2007

Havana

9. Various of roadside billboard with pictures of the Cuban Five and slogan (Spanish) "Freedom Now"

10. Various of book covers with pictures of the Cuban Five (MUTE)

Washington, DC - 12 September, 2007

11. Attorney for the five Cubans, Leonard Weinglass walking to podium

12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Leonard Weinglass, Attorney for the Cuban Five:

"This, like the Pentagon Papers trial, is a case that reveals the untold story of the low intensity war, which Danny Glover referred to (in a video introduction) emanating from these shores against the country that is 90 miles away. A war that has lasted for more than 4 decades and of which the American public knows virtually nothing."

13. Audience

14. Reverse shot of Weinglass speaking

15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Leonard Weinglass, Attorney for the Cuban Five:

"Cuba protested each and everyone of those acts, it was introduced into evidence in the trial with the Five. The US did nothing. Cuba went to the UN and asked the UN to pass a resolution against terrorism, years before 9/11... It is still on the agenda of the UN. They haven't acted on it. And when finally nothing else would work, Cuba sent these five men to the United States."

FILE - February 2007

Havana

16. Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez (one of the Cuban Five) and daughter Ivette Gonzalez

17. Medium of the two looking at pictures

18. Medium of Rene Gonzalez in photograph with his daughters/pull out to medium

19. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez:

"I did not request a visa to reside in the United States. I know this is not possible anymore, plus we want to live in Cuba when he comes back when he is freed. But I think it is my right to visit him. It is the right of every prisoner to receive the visit of his wife, of his family. The family that we created together. "

20. Pan of billboard with names of Cuban Five

21. Medium of billboard (Spanish) reading "They Will Return"

STORYLINE:

Cuba's culture minister Abel Prieto appealed to world opinion on Wednesday to take up the case of five Cubans convicted on espionage charges in the US.

He called a news conference in Havana on Wednesday to launch a new book on the case of the Cuban Five, celebrated in their home country but little known in the rest of the world.

Fidel Castro's government sent Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez to South Florida to gather information about anti-communist exile groups and send it back to the island using encrypted software, high-frequency radio transmissions and coded electronic phone messages.

Leonard Weinglass, attorney for the Five told a student audience in Washington DC that it followed terrorist attacks by anti-Castro Cuban exiles:

"Cuba protested each and everyone of those acts. The US did nothing. Cuba went to the UN and asked the UN to pass a resolution against terrorism, years before 9/11... It is still on the agenda of the UN. They haven't acted on it. And when finally nothing else would work, Cuba sent these five men to the United States", he said.

The book, compiled with writings from 17 Cuban authors with an epilogue by the President of Cuba's National Parliament, reveals what Weinglass called "the untold story of the low intensity war...emanating from these shores against the country that is 90 miles (140 kilometres) away."

Weinglass said the unfair treatment received by the Cuban Five in the United States' judicial system is part of "a war that is lasted more than four decades and of which the American public knows virtually nothing."

"It is truly unacceptable that a case of violation of elemental justice should be hidden from North American public opinion as well as much of the public opinion of the world", said Prieto during Wednesday's press conference.

Weinglass said the five men were trying to gather information that might prevent exile groups from waging more attacks, such as the bombings at Havana hotels that killed an Italian tourist in 1997.

The five were convicted of being unregistered foreign agents and three were found guilty of espionage conspiracy for failed efforts to obtain military secrets.

Hernandez was also convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four Miami-based pilots whose small, private planes were shot down in February 1996 by a Cuban MiG in international waters off Cuba's northern coast.

They were sentenced to terms ranging from 10 years to life in December 2001, but the case has ping-ponged through the court system the last six years due to a round of appeals.

In August 2005, a three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta tossed out the verdicts, saying the five didn't receive a fair trial because of anti-Castro bias in Miami. But the convictions were reinstated exactly a year later by the full 11th Circuit.

Among the allegations of unfair treatment cited by the defence and various organisations that support their release, is the refusal to grant visas to the wives of two of the detained Cubans to visit their husbands during the nine years they have spent behind bars.

The US has denied visitor's visas to the wives of Rene Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez.

In February, Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez told AP Television "it is the right of every prisoner to receive a visit from his wife, of his family, the family that we created together."

"I think it is my right to visit him," she added

Although the five men's so-called "Wasp Network" spy ring recovered no US secrets, federal prosecutors argued for stiff penalties, saying they were well-trained spies who ran foul of federal law by failing to inform the government of their presence.

While serving their sentences, the men have become celebrities in their homeland. As Castro celebrated his 81st birthday last month, messages that the five hope to "celebrate all those future anniversaries together in our beautiful fatherland" were published in the Communist party newspaper.

The agents are currently seeking a new trial that they hope will overturn their prison sentences, which range from 15 years to life.

The book entitled "From the Loneliness and the Hope", (Spanish : "Desde La Soledad y La Esperanza") is accompanied by a music CD with compositions from ten Cuban musicians and composers.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot of families and activists holding news conference outside US Supreme Court

2. Cutaway of press

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, Father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"In one letter, he wrote 'I do not know what crime I am supposed to have committed for which not only I, but my wife and children continuously suffer. As a result, I'm in a state of depression and beginning to lose the fight against depression and hopelessness."

4. Wide shot of Azmat Begg speaking

AP Photos - No Access Canada

5. Still photo of detainee Moazzam Begg

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, Father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"He has been held captive for more than two years and in all this time he has never been charged and tried. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice. Before mercy comes justice and my son has been denied justice."

7. Cutaway of press at news conference

AP Photos - No Access Canada

8. Still photo of detainee Murat Kurnaz

9. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rabiye Kurnaz, Mother of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"I want due process and justice for him and I want to see him. If it was possible, I'd want to bring him home, but I know that's not possible. I know he's not doing well. The way they're treating the detainees is against humanity."

10. Cutaway of cameras

11. Wide shot of Terry Waite speaking at podium in front of Supreme Court

12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Terry Waite, Former Hostage in Lebanon:

"We are here today because we believe there has been a major breech of human rights. Perhaps it was done with good intentions, but the consequences will be disastrous, disastrous for the United States and disastrous for all our freedoms."

13. Cutaway of cameras

14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vanessa Redgrave, Actress, Founder of Guantanamo Human Rights Commission:

"You must have international human rights law and national law in which those international human rights are embodied. And that's why we're here, because this has been denied to the detainees, both in Guantanamo and other places that we've heard about like the British-American base of Diego Garcia. If there are no rights, then what do you have? Some call it an interrogation camp. I'm afraid I have to say I consider it to be a concentration camp."

15. Wide shot of families and press in front of the Supreme Court

16. Family members of detainees walking towards the White House

17. Shot of the White House

18. Azmat Begg standing with other family members outside the White House

19. Rabiye Kurnaz walking in front of the White House with religious leader

STORYLINE:

Family members of some of the detainees being held at US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay were in Washington on Monday seeking what they say are the basic rights their relatives are being denied.

The European family members of three terror suspects held at the Navy base in Cuba urged President Bush to release the prisoners for trial in their home countries, saying the indefinite detainment is taking a toll on their mental health.

At a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court, Azmat Begg read a letter from his son, Moazzam Begg, one of the estimated 640 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

In the letter, Moazzam Begg says he has never been told of the crime for which he is being held. And he described his detention as being "kept like an animal in a cell" with little sleep and no information.

Azmat Begg, who came from England to pursue due process rights for his son, has written a letter to President Bush in which he pleads for justice, not for mercy.

Like Begg, Rabiye Kurnaz said she's also worried about the health and mental state of her son, who has been held at Guantanamo for more than two years.

Kurnaz, who lives in Germany, said she hasn't spoken with her son since he has been detained. But she fears, he is not doing well.

Human rights organizations have called on the United States to release the prisoners or at least say what is planned for them.

The groups say that the indefinite detentions have led to a deterioration in mental health and dozens of suicide attempts at the prison, set up shortly after the start of the war in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Terry Waite, a Briton who was held hostage in Lebanon for nearly five years in the 80's, said what the US government is doing in Cuba is similar to the injustice of his detention nearly two decades ago. And he called the situation "a major breech of human rights."

The delegation of families was led by the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, founded by actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave.

The group plans to hold a wide range of meetings with human right campaigners and faith leaders in Washington and New York.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month from lawyers representing foreign "enemy combatants" who are being held incommunicado at the military prison.

At issue is whether the prisoners may challenge their detention in US courts.

Administration officials have said they have wide legal latitude to interrogate the detainees for extended period since national security is at risk.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot of families and activists holding news conference outside US Supreme Court

2. Cutaway of press

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"In one letter, he wrote 'I do not know what crime I am supposed to have committed for which not only I, but my wife and children continuously suffer. As a result, I'm in a state of depression and beginning to lose the fight against depression and hopelessness."

4. Wide shot of Azmat Begg speaking

5. Cutaway of press

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"He has been held captive for more than two years and in all this time he has never been charged and tried. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice. Before mercy comes justice and my son has been denied justice."

7. Cutaway of press at news conference

8. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rabiye Kurnaz, Mother of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"I want due process and justice for him and I want to see him. If it was possible, I'd want to bring him home, but I know that's not possible. I know he's not doing well. The way they're treating the detainees is against humanity."

9. Cutaway of cameras

10. Wide shot of Terry Waite, former hostage in Lebanon, speaking at podium in front of Supreme Court

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Terry Waite, former hostage in Lebanon:

"We are here today because we believe there has been a major breech of human rights. Perhaps it was done with good intentions, but the consequences will be disastrous - disastrous for the United States and disastrous for all our freedoms."

12. Cutaway of cameras

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vanessa Redgrave, Actress, Founder of Guantanamo Human Rights Commission:

"You must have international human rights law and national law in which those international human rights are embodied. And that's why we're here, because this has been denied to the detainees, both in Guantanamo and other places that we've heard about like the British-American base of Diego Garcia. If there are no rights, then what do you have? Some call it an interrogation camp. I'm afraid I have to say I consider it to be a concentration camp."

14. Wide shot of families and press in front of the Supreme Court

STORYLINE:

Family members of some of the detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay were in Washington, Monday, seeking what they say are the basic rights their relatives are being denied.

The European family members of three terror suspects held at the US Navy base in Cuba urged President George W. Bush to release the prisoners for trial in their home countries, saying the indefinite detainment is taking a toll on their mental health.

At a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court, Azmat Begg read a letter from his son, Moazzam Begg, one of the estimated 640 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

In the letter, Moazzam Begg said that he has never been told of the crime for which he is being held.

Azmat Begg who came from England to pursue due process rights for his son, said that he was not asking for mercy for his son but simply justice, a sentiment reflected in a letter that he has written to Bush

Rabiye Kurnaz, the mother of another detainee, said that she is worried about the health and mental state of her son who has been held at Guantanamo for more than two years.

Kurnaz, who lives in Germany, said that she hasn't spoken with her son since he has been detained. But she fears, he is not doing well.

Human rights organisations have called on the United States to release the prisoners or at least say what is planned for them.

The groups say that the indefinite detentions have led to a deterioration in mental health and dozens of suicide attempts at the prison, set up shortly after the start of the war in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Terry Waite, a Briton who was held hostage in Lebanon for nearly five years in the 1980's, said that what the US government is doing in Cuba is similar to the injustice of his detention nearly two decades ago. He called the situation "a major breach of human rights."

The delegation of families was led by the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, founded by actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave.

The group has planned to hold a wide range of meetings with human right campaigners and faith leaders in Washington and New York.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month from lawyers representing foreign "enemy combatants" who are being held incommunicado at the military prison.

At issue is whether the prisoners may challenge their detention in US courts.

Administration officials have said they have wide legal latitude to interrogate the detainees for extended period, claiming that national security is at risk.

Carlos Menem, a former Argentine president who delivered short-lived economic stability and forged close ties with the United States in the 1990s even as he navigated scandal and enjoyed an often flamboyant lifestyle, has died.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández confirmed the death of the 90-year-old former leader, who had been ailing in recent weeks.

The dapper lawyer from one of Argentina’s poorest provinces, dismissed by critics as a playboy, steered Argentina toward a free-market model that was, at one point, envied by neighbors and favored by investors. Menem’s accomplishments, however, coincided with growing unemployment, economic inequality and foreign debt.

Menem was also supremely flexible as a politician, beginning his career as a self-styled disciple of Gen. Juan Domingo Peron, who founded the populist movement that bears his name and placed the economy largely under state control.

Menem, who served two terms as president between 1989 and 1999, transformed the country - but in the opposite direction.

“I don’t know if I’m going to get the country out of its economic problems, but I’m sure going to make a more fun country,” Menem once said.

He relished the company of celebrities, hosting the Rolling Stones and Madonna in Buenos Aires, and memorably shrugged off criticism after receiving a red Ferrari as a gift from an Italian businessman in 1990.

“It is mine, mine and mine,” Menem, an auto racing fan, said in front of television cameras. “Why would I donate it?”

Later, he reluctantly agreed to auction off the car for $135,000, with the proceeds going to state coffers.

The son of Syrian immigrants whose family owned a winery, Menem was a folksy, three-time governor of northwestern La Rioja Province, noted for shoulder-length hair and muttonchop sideburns when he came to international prominence.

He won the Peronist Party nomination and surged to victory in 1989 presidential elections, capitalizing on economic and social chaos in Argentina. The country was mired in 5,000% annual inflation and the poor were sacking supermarkets to obtain food.

Under Menem, the economy registered strong growth, inflation dropped to single digits and the peso, the national currency, enjoyed unprecedented stability as it was pegged to the U.S. dollar. The long hair and sideburns were gone and the flashy clothes replaced by imported, hand-made suits.

The core of Menem’s recovery plan, masterminded by energetic Harvard-educated Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, was the withdrawal of the state from the economy.

Menem removed controls on prices and interest rates. He sold the state-owned phone company, airlines, race tracks, steel mills and the oil giant YPF, then South America’s largest company. He cut the state payroll and encouraged foreign investment. He curbed once-powerful labor unions that formed the backbone of the Peronist movement and were angered by state payroll cuts that eliminated jobs.

In foreign affairs, Menem withdrew Argentina from the Non-Aligned Movement, a Cold War-era structure that had espoused independence from the United States and - less so - the Soviet Union, and forged strong ties with Washington.

Argentine troops participated in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq and joined U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti and the former Yugoslavia.

During Menem’s tenure, Argentina was the scene of deadly bombings - against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and a Jewish community center in 1994.

Argentina accused Iran of involvement; Iran denied it.

Menem was later tried for the alleged cover-up of those responsible for the attack on the Jewish center, but was found not guilty in a trial in 2019.

As president, Menem prevailed in disputes with the Argentine military, whose 1976 coup had led to the extrajudicial killings and disappearances of tens of thousands of people. He trimmed armed forces spending and abolished the highly unpopular military conscription system.

He dismayed human rights groups by granting a pardon to former military junta members serving sentences of up to life in prison for crimes connected to the disappearance of Argentine dissidents during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. The pardon was extended to former guerrillas in what Menem described as a process of national reconciliation.

Menem also renewed relations with Britain, severed after the Argentine dictatorship’s 1982 invasion of the British-held Falkland Islands. The invasion ended in Argentina’s defeat in a 74-day war.

Menem was elected governor of La Rioja in 1973, but his first term was cut short by the 1976 coup. The military rulers sent him to prison, along with other politicians. He later was confined for nearly five years in a small village in northern Formosa province.

Various controversies trailed Menem after his presidency. In 2001, he was detained for several months for alleged involvement in the sale of Argentine weapons to Croatia and Ecuador in the 1990s, at a time of international embargoes on those countries. He was eventually convicted in the case and sentenced in 2013 to seven years in prison, but he was protected from going to jail because he had been elected as a senator in 2005 and enjoyed immunity. The case was dropped in 2017.

His colorful political career aside, Menem was a subject of fascination for his personal life. He dined with actors, models and pop music stars, danced the tango on television, played soccer and posed for the covers of gossip magazines.

In 1966 he married the Argentine Zulema Yoma and they had two children: Carlos Facundo, who died at the age of 26 when the helicopter he was piloting crashed, and Zulema María Eva. The marriage was dissolved amid a scandal that included the eviction in 1990 of the then first lady from the presidential residence.

In 2001, at age 70, Menem married the Chilean television presenter and former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco, who was 36. The couple had a son, Máximo. The couple divorced in 2011.

Menem also had a son with the teacher and later Peronist deputy Martha Meza, whom he met when he was confined in Formosa during the dictatorship. Carlos Nair Meza was 25 years old when Menem acknowledged him as his son.

++ALL VIDEO 4:3 EXCEPT FOR SHOTS 29-31++

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires - 8 July 1989

1. Various of Carlos Menem being sworn in as president, with members of the Argentine Congress and Senate present

2. Menem stands up and says UPSOUND (Spanish) "I, Carlos Saul Menem, swear to our Lord God and all the angels, God and the country demand it."

3. Various of audience inside and outside the Congress building applauding

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires - 21 July 1989

4. Stadium full of football fans

5. President Carlos Menem and Diego Maradona on the pitch at a charity match

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires - 18 July 1994

6. Tilt down from bombed Jewish community centre to rescue teams searching for survivors

7. Rescue worker and dog searching for victims in rubble

8. Wide of commotion in the street

9. Mid shot of Argentinian Jews

10. Various of rescue teams searching the building, firemen taking victim to ambulance

ARCHIVE:  Buenos Aires - 13 January 1995

11. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Menem stand together

12. Members of the press

13. Menem and Peres shake hands

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires – 10 May 1995

14. Wide of Carlos Menem election rally during the campaign for his reelection in 1995

15. Menem speaking during rally

16. People holding flags

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires – 15 May 1995

17. Carlos Menem, with Vice President Carlos Ruckauf on the balcony of the government house (Casa Rosada) celebrating reelection victory

18. Wide of people gathered in main Plaza de Mayo square celebrating

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires – May 1996

19. Carlos Menem greeting members of foreign press in Argentina at the beginning of press conference

20. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Menem, President of Argentina:

"The inherent corruption was totally beaten with the process of structural reform and transformation of the state by passing enterprises from the hands of the state into public entities."

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires – 16 October 1997

21. Various of Carlos Menem receiving Bill Clinton at Casa Rosada, Government Palace in Buenos Aires

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires - 6 June 2001

22. Former president Carlos Menem and his wife Cecilia Bolocco at news conference

23. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Carlos Menem, former Argentine president:

"I won't abandon my land, my homeland. And I quote Simon Bolivar by saying 'In chains but in my homeland'. And I am absolutely sure that despite all the disinformation I am absolutely not guilty. My freedom in this country is absolutely guaranteed because I believe in justice, I believe in the judicial power and I believe in my people."

24. Menem standing next to his wife Cecilia Bolocco during the news conference

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires - November 2005

25. Various of Menem being sworn in as Senator

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires -  28 November 2008

26. Wide of Buenos Aires University Hall where trial is taking place, judges' table with video screen

27. Various of former President Carlos Menem attending trial via video link

28. Prosecutor reading accusations against Menem, UPSOUND (Spanish) "Illegal exportation of war material made via sea and supported by the Government decree number 1697 and 2263 in the year 1991 and destined to the port of Panama and then sent to Croatia."

ARCHIVE: Buenos Aires - 13 June 2013

29. Judges enter courtroom and audience sits down

30. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jorge Pisarenco, judge of Penal Economic Tribunal of Buenos Aires:

"We found Congressman Menem in the following. A: seven years of prison effective immediately; B: stripped of privileges and special conditions; C: special three-year trade ban; D: 14-year ban to perform as a public servant."

31. Various of courtroom

LEAD IN:

Nearly a decade after nationwide protests swept Egypt, the country that was home to an inspiring protest movement, is experiencing an unprecedented crackdown.

STORY-LINE:

In the centre of Cairo, Egyptians stood in rows and prayed together in Tahrir Square in 2011.   

It was not a typical spot for a prayer session and though a spiritual act, that particular prayer was also an act of defiance.

It was not too far from that spot that a crowd lifted the body of a man killed in protests over their shoulders, one day earlier.

That same spot was the site where a sea of people filled the air with jubilations when Hosni Mubarak was removed from power in 2011.

By then, Tahrir Square has cemented itself as a symbol of the Egyptian people's movement, the site of an uprising whose images shook the world.

Over the course of nine years, the square hosted mass protests where the Egyptian people thunderously roared for bread, freedom and justice, the echoes answering back to reflect their woes and pains.    

But the square, its exits and surrounding areas, were also the site of street clashes and group arrests.

Nearly a decade since the sweeping protests of 2011, the square is no longer a site of frequent protests.

The year 2019 marked the continuation of the widening government crackdown on dissent and media in Egypt.

Although 2019 brought him his freedom, prominent Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid popularly known as "Shawkan," is a living example of a journalist affected by that crackdown.

He spent over five years behind bars, to return home to hugs from family and friend in March 2019.

Shawkan pledged to continue working despite severe restrictions imposed on his movements.

He was convicted of involvement in a 2013 sit-in by Islamists that was broken up by Egyptian security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead.

His case comes as Egypt, under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, has launched an unprecedented assault on reporters and the media in recent years, imprisoning dozens and occasionally expelling some foreign journalists.

In April, a nationwide referendum was held in Egypt amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

Egyptians voted on constitutional amendments that would allow el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030 and broaden the military's role.

Critics have blasted the changes as another major step toward an authoritarian government perhaps even more severe than that of Mubarak, whose nearly three decades of autocratic rule was ended by a popular uprising in 2011.

The constitutional amendment to extend el-Sissi's rule added to concerns that the country was slipping back into authoritarianism years after the pro-democracy uprising.

El-Sissi led the military's removal of an elected Islamist president in 2013 after his one-year rule proved divisive, sparking nationwide protests.

In 2019, that Islamist politician, Mohammed Morsi, died in June.

Morsi of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood was Egypt's first democratically elected president.

The 67-year-old Morsi had just addressed the court, speaking from the glass cage he was kept in during sessions and warning that he had "many secrets" he could reveal.

A few minutes afterward, he collapsed in the cage and was buried quietly in the dead of night.

No media coverage was allowed.

Morsi's son Ahmed said security agencies refused to allow Morsi to be buried at the family's cemetery in his hometown of Adwa in Sharqia province, and instead had him interred at a Cairo cemetery dedicated to prominent Islamists.

Dozens of people performed the absentee funeral prayer amid tight security in Adwa, according to residents and videos circulated online.

They took to the streets after the prayers to protest Morsi's death, but security forces dispersed them.

Morsi's Brotherhood accused the government of "assassinating" him through years of poor prison conditions.

Over the years, protesting became increasingly risky and Tahrir Square went quiet, save for the countless number of cars and people passing through it daily.

But it no longer offered Egyptians a soapbox to stand on and speak up.

The government effectively banned all public protests in 2013 shortly after el-Sissi led the military's overthrow of the elected but divisive late president, Morsi.

Since then, anyone who dared take to the streets was quickly arrested and received years-long prison sentences.

Yet in September 2019 a rare burst of protests against el-Sissi. brought back some of the household chants from the 2011 uprising.

People called for el-Sissi to step down, chanting "leave" and "we are protesters, we are free and we will carry on the path".

Protests in several Egyptian cities were quickly broken up by police.

Egyptian authorities have imposed heavy security in the capital, Cairo, particularly around Tahrir Square.

The protests marked a startling eruption of street unrest, which has been almost completely silenced the past years by draconian measures imposed under el-Sissi.

They emerged from an online campaign, led by an Egyptian businessman living in self-imposed exile who has presented himself as a whistleblower against corruption.

His calls for demonstrations come at a time when Egypt's lower and middle classes have been badly squeezed by years of economic reforms and austerity measures.

The businessman, Mohammed Ali, has put out a series of viral videos claiming corruption by the military and government.

Ali has alleged his contracting business witnessed the large scale misuse of public funds in military-run projects building luxury hotels and presidential palaces.

El-Sissi has dismissed the corruption allegations as "sheer lies."

The government stifled the calls for fresh protests against el-Sissi's rule, deploying security forces and closing many of Cairo's main thoroughfares.

Egypt has arrested at least 3,000 people since September amid a sweeping crackdown following the anti-government protests.

Leading pro-democracy activists such Alaa Abdel-Fattah and lawyers attending questioning were among those arrested.

In November, Morsi's death was in headlines once again after a U.N. report attributed it to "brutal" conditions inside the country's jails.

U.N. rights experts said that while in jail he was denied medical care, lost vision in one eye and suffered recurrent diabetic comas.

The experts concluded that the conditions he endured "could amount to a state-sanctioned arbitrary killing," according to the statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The U.N. report warned that thousands more prisoners in Egypt are at risk from "gross violations."

In response, Egyptian authorities organised a carefully scripted trip for journalists to Cairo's Tora prisons complex, along with dozens of celebrities and pro-government TV hosts.

Egyptian lawmakers said the late president was treated well in prison.

Alaa Abed, head of the Parliament's human rights committee, told The Associated Press that allegations of Morsi's mistreatment were an attempt to slander the government.

Prison authorities presented reporters with scenes of prisoners playing sports on a green lawn, as well as meals of meat and rice being prepared in the canteen.

Rights activists say conditions in Egypt's prisons are catastrophic, with allegations of torture and beatings.

These groups say tens of thousands are currently locked away, often for months or years without charge.

Later that same month, London-based rights group Amnesty International released a 60-page report detailing how the Egyptian government is using a secretive judicial agency designed to fight terrorism to detain peaceful protesters.

It said Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution, or SSSP, has become increasingly central to el-Sissi's sweeping crackdown on dissent.

The prosecution agency renews people's detentions for months and years without evidence, denying them access to lawyers and a fair chance to appeal, the report added.

After nine eventful years, Egypt will mark the anniversary of the 2011 protest movement on Jan. 25 2020.

In the leadup to the day, a prominent investigative media outlet in Egypt, Mada Masr is circulating a dark bulletin online.   

The website, one of a shrinking number of independent news outlets shared a guide to surviving this time in the city centre of Cairo, where Tahrir Square lies.

Based on lawyers' experiences, the guide cautions people from walking there on foot or using the metro, to avoid arrests.

It warns people from receiving foreigners in their homes in central Cairo and urges them to remove any items on their phones, betraying an interest in politics.

"The streets are generally dangerous," it says.

Cairo - 29 January 2011

++4:3++

1. Top shot of protesters carrying body of dead protester

2. Two protesters with Egyptian flag

Cairo - 30 January 2011

++4:3++

3. Wide of protesters praying at Tahrir square in Cairo

4. Close-up of man praying, Egyptian flag in background

5. People chanting during prayer ceremony

6. Man holding banner reading (English) "Game over Mubarak, No chance, Go out Mubarak"  

Cairo - 10 February 2011

++NIGHT SHOTS++

++4:3++

7. Wide top shot of tens of thousands of protesters at Tahrir square

8. Pan of people chanting UPSOUND (Arabic): "Get out"

9. Closer shot of dance, man banging drum

Cairo - 11 February 2011

++16:9++

++NIGHT SHOTS++

10. Wide top shot of thousands in Tahrir square, fireworks going off to celebrate end of Mubarak's presidency

Cairo - 14 August 2013

11. Protesters carrying injured supporter of late president Islamist politician, Mohammed Morsi into an ambulance, from the Rabaa al-Adawiya camp

12. Close-up of the injured being treated in ambulance

13. Wide of tear gas being fired at protesters, protesters picking it up and placing it in water

14. Wide of tyres burning, with two Muslim Brotherhood supporters showing victory sign to police

15. Close-up of smoke coming from the burning tyres

16. Muslim Brotherhood supporter wearing tee-shirt covered in blood, in front of him there are fires in the street

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Cairo - 14 August 2013

18. Mid of riot police vehicles firing tear gas towards Mohammed Morsi-supporters

19. Zoom in on military helicopter flying over protesters in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Cairo - 4 March 2019

20. Wide of prominent Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid, known as "Shawkan," sitting with his family at his house after being released from five years in prison

21. Mid of Shawkan kissing his father

22. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Abu Zaid, Egyptian photojournalist:

"I am not the first or last journalist to be detained. Famous journalists were detained and resumed their work when they were released. I will follow the same path."

23. Shawkan using camera

Cairo - 27 March 2019

24. Media and cameras covering conference of coalition of Egyptian opposition parties

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Dawoud, former leader of the Constitution Party of Egypt:

"Constitutions are not made to be changed once every four or five years. And when you change the constitution it has to be something totally important."

Cairo - 18 April 2019

26. Various of street banners supporting constitutional amendments in Tahrir square

27. Close of banner reading (Arabic) "Participate (in the referendum) and make your voice heard"

Cairo - 20 April 2019

28. Voters queuing outside polling station

29. Voter casting his vote in ballot box

30. Close of ballot box

Cairo - 17 June, 2019

++MUTE++

31. STILL International journalists and security stand near the graveyard before ex-president Mohammed Morsi was buried, in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was buried under heavy security early on Tuesday, a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom. No media coverage was allowed. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Cairo - 18 June, 2019

++MUTE++

32. STILL The entrance to the public graveyard where ex-president Mohammed Morsi was buried, is cordoned off, in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, early Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Adwa, Sharqia province - 18 June 2019

33. Absentee funeral prayer in Morsi's hometown of Adwa  

34. Morsi's supporters marching in Adwa streets while chanting (Arabic) "We need a new revolution and down with the military rule"

Cairo - 20 September 2019

35. Wide of dozens of Egyptians protesting near Tahrir square and chanting (Arabic) "Leave!"

36. Various of protest

37. Police vehicles

Near Barcelona - 5 November 2019

38. Egyptian businessman exiled in Spain Mohamed Ali talking

39. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohamed Ali, Egyptian businessman self-exiled in Spain:

"I talked (in my videos) about the army, our media used to portray the military as a very respectable institution, and (that they are) pure and great people. This is the most important institution in the country that the Egyptian people trust. But when I started working with the military, I felt that I fulfilled my dream of working with the highest and most respected institution, then when I associated with the highest-ranking people, I figured out that these people who rule the country are corrupt and all the corruption in Egypt is because of them."

40. Ali in his office

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING WAS FILMED ON A GOVERNMENT ORGANISED MEDIA FACILITY++

Cairo - 11 November 2019

41 Exterior of one of the buildings inside Tora prison complex

42. racking shot of group of journalists entering the prison

43. Security inside prison

44. Food tray in prison's kitchen, man picking up meat with ladle

45. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Alaa Abed, head of human rights committee at the Egyptian parliament:

"They are talking about Morsi, and they are trying to tell the world in a way or another that Morsi died due to prison conditions. But I have visited Morsi several times as the head of the Human Rights Committee in the Egyptian parliament and he was staying in a big room, he has all his medications, food, drinks and all that he needed."

46. Barbed wire on top of prison fence

Tunisia - 27 November 2019  

++VIA SKYPE INTERVIEW++

47. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hussein Baoumi, author of Amnesty International report on Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution (via Skype):  

"We are taking about more than 4,000 protesters, who according to the Egyptian public prosecutor were arrested for participating in protests, and they are detained on charges of helping a terrorist group achieve its goals. That makes it clear that from the viewpoint of the Supreme State Security Prosecution and the Egyptian authorities that any opposition, or any political activity not allowed by the Egyptian authorities, is in effect equivalent to terrorism."

Cairo - 15 January 2020

48. Nile River and skyline

Spanish/Eng/Nat

Women inmates in a Peruvian jail have been holding a beauty contest to relieve the tedium of their spartan life.

It's become an annual event at Lima's Santa Monica prison.

Tired of international criticism of Peru's prison conditions, Fujimori's government has turned the small event into a gala affair to showcase humane treatment of prisoners.

The result, a professionally produced contest attended by government officials, foreign embassy representatives, fashion designers and celebrities.

Eight hundred women are doing time here, in Santa Monica Women's Prison, in Lima's Chorrillos district.

The prison, designed to house only 500 inmates, is overcrowded.

But conditions here are incomparably better than in high-security prisons for leftist rebels, whose leaders are held in solitary confinement in dungeon-like cells.

And after years of international criticism of Peru's prison conditions, the government of President Alberto Fujimori wants to show they treat prisoners humanely.

That's why the celebration of a beauty contest in Santa Monica has been transformed this year into a gala affair.

The contest started out small and informal six years ago.

This year's was professionally produced and attended by high government officials, foreign embassy representatives, talk show hosts, fashion designers and celebrities.

The prisoners got ready to enjoy the glitz and glamour and make the best of it.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish)

"It's good to fight against the daily routine and also to help, because we need things in our blocks."

SUPER CAPTION: Susana Molto, Spanish prisoner

SOUNDBITE (Spanish)

"My mates chose me. There is one of us per floor, and they chose me, so I can't say more, I just have to do it."

SUPER CAPTION: Katia Cardoso, Brazilian prisoner

Of the 17 women who competed this week 11 were foreigners --all convicted drug smugglers.

Their stories are all too similar.

Lured by the promise of easy money, they came to Peru to smuggle cocaine only to be intercepted at Lima's international airport.

They were told they would easily pass Peruvian customs officials entranced by their good looks.

But instead they got long sentences.

The women say the month-long preparation for the beauty contest broke the monotony of the prison life.

They rehearsed with a choreographer both their individual performances and one together.

Inmates attended the show, many with their children who can be with their mothers in Santa Monica until they are three years old.

In the end, 18-year-old Dutch prisoner Nicole Bos was chosen this year's Chorrillos beauty queen.

She was being crowned by special guest Fabiola Lazo, Miss Peru 1999.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)

"I wasn't expecting it (to win) because there are so many beautiful girls... but it's been me."

SUPER CAPTION: Nicole Bos, Chorrillos beauty queen '99

And while Nicole was talking with reporters, the grey-uniformed guards began rounding up the other prisoners and hoarding them back to their cells for the night.

Santa Monica prison in Chorrillos district, Lima, Peru, September 23 1999 XFA

1. Zoom out of exterior of Santa Monica women's prison

2. Wide shot block inside prison

3. Woman prisoner looking out of her cell window

4. Various shots of prisoners having their hair done

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Susana Molto, Spanish prisoner

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Katia Cardoso, Brazilian prisoner

7. Candidate prisoners coming out of their block

8. Wide of prisoner candidates doing dance during pageant

9. Prisoners watching

10. Pan from candidates to audience clapping

11. Jury

12. Chinese candidate performing traditional dance

13. Another candidate dancing

14. Inmates with their children watching show

15. Close up of candidates in evening dress

16. Brazilian candidate on catwalk in evening dress

17. Jury

18. Wide of candidates

19. Angie Huang Ling, the Chinese candidate getting the award of Photogenic queen

20. Close up of crowns

21. Nicole Bos, from Holland, receiving her award as this year's Chorrillos' beauty queen

22. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Nicole Bos, Chorrillo's 1999 beauty queen

23. Nicole waving

24. Inmates applauding

LEADIN:

Palestinians are showing support for hunger striking prisoners by taking the salt water challenge.

They drink the mixture - the same solution hundreds of detainees in Israeli jails are taking as they protest for better conditions.

STORYLINE:

The students raise their glasses and gulp down their drink.

They are taking part in the Salt Water Challenge, a campaign started by the family of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti.

Participants drink salty water in a show of solidarity with hundreds of prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

This event at Al-Quds has been organised by student Munjed Kaloti.

He says it sends a message to to those who want to "protect freedom and human rights".

According to Israeli officials, the number of prison hunger strikers has dropped to fewer than 900 after reaching a peak of 1,300 last week.

The salt water campaign is spreading on social media.

Several celebrities in the Arab world have already taken part, including the host of "Arabs Got Talent," who drank the salt water at the opening of his popular Beirut-based TV show over the weekend. Others included a prominent Iraqi football player and a Lebanese artist.

"We want to spread this challenge and this international campaign for the solidarity for the Palestinian rights from here to all our fellow free students around the world. Freedom for Palestine," says Kaloti.

Some people have found other ways to show their support for the hunger strikers.

Artist Muna Marouf, a Palestinian artist, has painted her face with a picture of cutlery as well as red markings which look like her skin is breaking and bleeding.

The design is highly symbolic.

"I am relaying the physical effects of the hunger strike on the hunger striker: the thin face, the dry face as a result of dehydration because of lack of water and food, and this causes the skin to break and bleed," she says.

"Another thing I used is the fork and spoon covering the mouth to show that the prisoner is abstaining from food and drink. They also cover the eyes to show that after some time the hunger striker might lose his sight."

At Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem she explains to passers by the meaning behind her interactive art.

The hunger strike is well into its third week and has gripped the attention of the Palestinian people. It also puts pressure on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas who is due to meet US president Donald Trump in Washington DC later today.

Political analyst Ali Jarbawi says the current Palestinian situation could be to Abbas's advantage "if he says the situation is shaky and that the Palestinians do not accept Israel's actions."

But he also warns it could go against the President if he is viewed as lacking control.

The strike has catapulted organiser Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences, back into the spotlight and boosted his national leadership credentials.

Barghouti, behind bars since 2002, has consistently led in polls as the most popular choice to someday succeed 82-year-old Abbas.

Abu Dis, East Jerusalem - 1 May 2017

1. University students drinking salt and water as part of a challenge to support Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Munjed Kaloti, Palestinian student:

"Our fellow students around the world, we are gathered here today at Al-Quds University addressing this message of freedom to you all who believe in and protect freedom and human rights to stand with us in solidarity with the human rights and freedom of the Palestinians who have been striving and fighting for decades."

3. Various of students mixing salt and water in preparation to take the challenge

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Munjed Kaloti, Palestinian student:

"We invite you all to stand strongly in solidarity with more than 1,800 political prisoners in the Israeli prisons who are enduring a hunger strike demanding their basic human rights constituted in the international law, hence we invite you all to participate in this challenge, salt and water."

5. Woman taking the salt and water challenge

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Munjed Kaloti, Palestinian student:

"We want to spread this challenge and this international campaign for the solidarity for the Palestinian rights from here to all our fellow free students around the world. Freedom for Palestine. Spread the word, spread the word of freedom. Freedom for Palestine."

Damascus Gate, East Jerusalem - 2 May 2017

7. Various of Palestinian artist Muna Marouf standing at the steps of Damascus Gate her face painted in solidarity with the hunger strikers

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muna Marouf, Palestinian artist:

"I felt that this is also a way that through make up people can relate to what happens in a hunger striker, especially because I am relaying the physical effects of the hunger strike on the hunger striker: the thin face, the dry face as a result of dehydration because of lack of water and food, and this causes the skin to break and bleed. Another thing I used is the fork and spoon covering the mouth to show that the prisoner is abstaining from food and drink. They also cover the eyes to show that after some time the hunger striker might lose his sight."

9. Marouf explaining to school children what her make-up symbolises

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muna Marouf, Palestinian artist:

"This art is is called 'interactive art' which allows artists to choose a number of ways, like music or drawing to convey a message. This time I chose make up which is traditionally used for beauty purposes so I chose to move it away from its beauty purpose and to use it as a way to convey a message."

11. Various of Marouf at Damascus Gate showing her art

Ramallah, West Bank - 2 May 2017

12. Dr. Ali Jarbawi, political analyst, working at desk

13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Jarbawi, political analyst:

"The internal Palestinian situation is shaky. There's the split (between Hamas and Fatah) and there's a new Hamas document and there's the prisoner hunger strike, so it is not exactly a sound situation. So the question is how will the Palestinian president address this issue. But this all could be turned into a source of strength or an advantage if he says the situation is shaky and that the Palestinians do not accept Israel's actions and there is a necessity to bring a solution, a compromise that is acceptable to the Palestinian people. Or all of this could be used against president Abu Mazen (Abbas) that he is not in control of the situation in the Palestinian Territories."

Ofer Prison, near Beitunia, West Bank - 20 April 2017

14. Various of protests near the Israeli Ofer military prison