Khaled Ali’s arrest undermined the government and boosted his popularity

Government: 0, Khaled Ali: 1. The arrest of human rights lawyer Khaled Ali only served to boost his popularity and undermine the government’s steadiness, Fahmy Howeidy writes in a column penned for Al Shorouk. Ali’s arrest was on shaky legal grounds and is either in retaliation for his lawsuit against the government over the handover of Tiran and Sanafir islands or a political warning to him and other potential presidential candidates. Whatever the case may be, the move backfired against the state and is unpaid publicity for his presidential campaign, Howeidy writes.