Egypt: when the government promotes (in song) its new "American-style" prison

"A chance for life": this is what the Egyptian Interior Ministry promises for future detainees at the Wadi al-Natrun Correction and Rehabilitation Center, located northwest of Cairo, which opened at the end of october.

It is also the title of the song that accompanies this vast communication campaign for an "American-style" prison, built in just ten months and supposed to respond to accusations from international human rights organizations.

According to the government of Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the opening of this giant complex will allow the closure of 12 prisons in the country, or a quarter of its prison capacity.

"I invent margins to prolong you." What a line.

— Gautam Bhatia Mon Apr 06 22:14:52 +0000 2020

It must be said that the video clip of the song, performed by Mai Farouk and Medhat Saleh, two Egyptian stars, is a dream: we see prisoners learning how to make solar panels, attending religious services, playing sports, laughing, read in the library...

An image of Epinal which made Internet users laugh yellow. "In Egypt, you will see miracles", points out one of them on Twitter, comparing in images the spacious library of the prison and a crowded classroom.