Despite pains, Asmaa’s mother fights Egypt coup

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 10: Five years ago, Sanaa Abdel-Gawad, the wife of senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagi, lost her daughter when Egyptian security forces violently dispersed an anti-coup camp in Cairo. As Egyptian authorities launched a harsh crackdown on supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi, Abdel-Gawad sought refuge in Turkey. Despite staying thousands of miles away from her country, Abdel-Gawad spares no effort to raise awareness about the aftermath of the military coup in Egypt. “I have a main cause in life,” she told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview. “We have a right to live in freedom, a life without being ruled by the military,” she said. “We were not created to be ruled by the military.” In mid-2013, Abdel-Gawad’s daughter, Asmaa, was martyred when security forces violently cleared a protest camp staged in support of Morsi in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. The dispersal came six weeks after the military deposed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, in a coup after serving only one year in power. Abdel-Gawad’s husband, Mohamed al-Beltagi, was also arrested weeks after Morsi’s ouster and put on trial of several charges. Her son Anas was also detained and jailed for alleged arms possession. “My husband and son are currently in detention in military prisons,” Abdel-Gawad said. “Though we have paid a lot, we never regret it.”“All my children resisted the military rule and paid a lot for this cause.” Abdel-Gawad said there are more than 40 women in detention in Egypt. “Their families know nothing about them and whether they were alive or dead. Nobody knows anything,” she said, adding that she dedicates her time to raise awareness about the issue. Abdel-Gawad said she continues her anti-coup activities in Turkey as she used to do in Egypt. “I participate in press and legal activities,” she said. (Footage by Fatih Caglar Demirbas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)