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Leftists in the past: "Workers of the world unite." Leftists today: "You only studied at a distance university? Away with you, you uneducated cretin!" (translated)

My Name Is on a File On a case I was never summoned to, and a price I do not pay alone By Adham Hasanin Egyptian journalist and political writer, based in the Netherlands | July 2026 In 2024, I learned that my name had been entered into a case. Case number 1282. Listed as a "defendant." I was never summoned, and no one called to tell me the exact charge. I found out the way anyone in my position finds out — from a colleague, from a quick search of my own name, from another journalist who called to ask: "Did you know your name is on file?" I do not want to overdramatise the story. No cinematic manhunt, no car tailing me down a European street. What happened is simpler and crueller than that: a state thousands of kilometres away opened a file bearing my name, without my knowledge, without any way for me to defend myself within it, without even anyone standing before me to answer. The charge is not based on any act I committed. The charge is that I wrote. An article, an opinion, a tweet — it makes no difference. What matters is that the words were read, and someone decided they were dangerous enough to become a case number. I. How Do You Know You Are Accused? This question seems like a technicality, but it is in fact the heart of the whole matter. I received no official letter. No lawyer knocked on my door carrying documents. No one from an embassy or consulate called to inform me. The knowledge itself arrived by accident — a passing search, or a message from a friend asking: "Where did you see your name?" This small detail reveals something far larger than a mere administrative oversight. When you are not formally notified that you are accused, you do not even have a clear starting point from which to act. You do not know exactly when the file was opened. You do not know who decided to include your name. You do not know whether a hearing was held, a decision was made, or even whether an investigation took place at all. You simply discover, one day, that you have become "accused" within a legal system that never gave you the chance to know its rules. This ambiguity is not a flaw in the procedure; it is the procedure itself. A case opened without a clear announcement, with no trial date set, performs its full function even while suspended indefinitely. It does not need a conviction to frighten; it is enough that it simply exists. II. The Charge That Needs No Crime In conventional legal systems, a case begins with an act: theft, assault, fraud — something material that can be proven or disproven. But my case, like many others, began with a word. I stole nothing. I assaulted no one. I incited no violence, called for no chaos. I wrote an opinion. I analysed a policy. I criticised a decision. That is the entirety of it. And yet this simple act — writing — became the basis for a legal file bearing a number and classified under a security heading. The paradox is that this kind of charge requires no fixed standard. What counts as "dangerous" today may not be tomorrow, and vice versa. There is no published list of forbidden words, no clear criterion distinguishing incitement from opinion. This deliberate ambiguity — or perhaps unintentional, but effective regardless — leaves every writer living in a state of permanent unease: will this sentence be the one that opens a file bearing my name? III. The Real Danger Is Not to Me Many ask me: "Can they reach you in the Netherlands?" The honest answer: no, not directly. I am here, in a country governed by the rule of law, physically protected by Dutch police, and no one can arrest me on the basis of a case in another country absent a valid extradition treaty and supporting facts. This is not my first concern. My real concern is that this case does not target me alone. It targets those around me. My family in Egypt. People walking down the street, opening their front door, with no connection to politics whatsoever — and suddenly someone is asking about them because I wrote a word from here. This is not a threat spoken aloud. No one calls to say: "If you continue, we will do such-and-such." The message arrives without anyone saying it — through the kind of questions asked of my family, through their timing, through the silence that meets me when I try to learn the details. Sometimes it is a "routine" phone call from some office, asking about my place of residence, my activities, or people I am in contact with. None of it is an explicit threat, but the timing alone is enough to deliver the message. This is precisely the mechanism by which this kind of pursuit operates: it does not need to touch me physically to affect me. It is enough to make me know that the people I love are exposed to harm because of what I write. IV. I Am Not an Exception It would be easy for an article like this to turn into a personal complaint, and I am careful that it should not. Case 1282 is not an isolated incident, and if I stay silent about it I become complicit — unintentionally — in concealing a pattern that genuinely exists. There are others like me — far more than me — whose names sit in similar files, some of whom have no platform to speak from as I do. Journalists, activists, even ordinary people who never practised journalism but shared a post or left a comment. Case 1282 is not an exception; it is a method of operation. Someone writes from abroad, someone else decides they are "dangerous," and the matter shifts from opinion to legal file, without a real trial, without even a clear official announcement that a charge exists at all. More dangerously, this pattern is not confined to Egyptians alone, nor to any single country. It is a recurring tactic used by several regimes seeking to pursue voices beyond their borders without bearing the burden of actual proof or a transparent legal process. The open, unannounced file serves the same purpose everywhere: it frightens without convicting, and keeps the writer in a permanent state of tension without ever offering him the chance to defend himself. V. What Has Actually Changed in Me I will not say this made me stronger. The phrase is worn out, usually deployed to prettify a painful experience, and I refuse to do that. What actually happened is simpler and more honest: I began writing more slowly. Not less candidly — I still say what I believe, still criticise what deserves criticism. But I have become more aware that every sentence I write from here may carry a price I am not the only one paying. This awareness slows the writing, not because I am censoring myself out of fear for my own safety, but because I am thinking about who might pay the price on my behalf. And this is precisely the point of such a case, whether intended or a by-product of a broader mechanism. Actual arrest is not required for censorship to function. No summons is required, no trial, not even a clear charge. It is enough to know your name is written on a piece of paper somewhere, to make you think twice before writing the next time. VI. Why I Continue Regardless A reader might ask: if the price is this clear, why keep writing? Would silence not be safer, for you and for your family? The answer is not as heroic as it might sound, but it is honest: because silence does not solve the problem, it postpones and expands it. If I stopped, and others like me stopped, the mechanism that produced Case 1282 would keep operating with no voice to expose it. Files would keep opening, names would keep being entered, families would keep being questioned, with no one outside the circle of direct victims ever knowing this was happening at all. Writing about this experience, for all its risks, is the only way I have to make this pattern visible. When an article like this is published, the file no longer remains a secret between a government body and an isolated writer; it becomes part of a public record that other journalists, human rights organisations, and even international institutions can follow and document. Conclusion: A Price Not Paid Once I am still writing. More slowly than before, but still writing. And Case 1282 remains open, suspended, with no set date for a hearing or a verdict, exactly as it began. This very ambiguity is the message. An authority that opens a file and never closes it, never tries its subject, never even clearly states what the charge is — is not pursuing justice. It is pursuing something else entirely: that everyone who thinks of writing knows the price is possible, even if not certain. And that everyone who has already written carries that price with them wherever they go, however far they travel from the source of the case. This is the true price of a single word: not one arrest at one moment, but a continuous state of uncertainty that lives with you every time you open a blank page to write. Adham Hasanin is an Egyptian journalist and political writer based in the Netherlands.

🚨🔴⚪️ Bayern plan to start discussing new deal with Harry Kane from August as in the upcoming weeks talks will take place. Club prepared to offer fresh terms as priority to keep Kane at the club; decision up to Harry and his family. 🎥 https://t.co/XReRTboRm9 https://t.co/ZL4PwCnvjS #Bayern #HarryKane #TransferNews #None

Je re-propose un nouveau hashtag en ce moment si symbolique : #NoNETWORKNoPLAYSTATION ✊💿 Désolé les loulous mais quand on se démène pour vous faire comprendre ça à longueur de journée, c'est un petit peu jouissif quand même que vous voyez à quel point nous sommes DÉPENDANTS du moindre souci sur les serveurs ne serait-ce que pour... JOUER. Simplement. Imaginez en janvier 2028. A des jeux que vous avez achetés en prime plein pot. Mais bon, continuez de nous insulter, et de nous dire que c'est "l'évolution" vous avez raison. La preuve. Presque envie de relancer la Play éteinte depuis plus de 20 jours pour me faire du Crimson Desert en boite moi tiens 😏 #Gaming #PlayStation #NoNetworkNoPlay

🚨🔵 Maxence Lacroix and Chelsea, deal at final stages as reported yesterday with full agreement on personal terms. #CFC and Crystal Palace owners in contact to get it done any moment, deal very close. Axel Disasi discussed but NOT happening. 🎥 https://t.co/i8TFrarDZg https://t.co/6tjzdvMMgr #Lacroix #CFC #TransferNews #None

The situation in the Middle East is getting out of control. It's time to step back. My clear & consistent message to leaders: The fighting must stop everywhere. Freedom of navigation must be restored. Diplomacy is the only way forward. https://t.co/ZfOdMyq1Td #MiddleEast #Diplomacy #Peace #None

Kad nesen te tviterī kāda meitene publiski dokumentēja savu personisko traģēdiju - viņa dzemdēja jau vēderā mirušu mazuli -, es daļēji biju neizpratnē: nu kāpēc kaut kas tik ļoti intīms jāļauj lasīt tūkstošiem acu? Un vienlaikus viņu arī sapratu, jo norunāšana nost diezgan atvieglo. Ja vien cilvēks nav no tērauda taisīts, tādi stāsti paver empātijas slūžas, bet lielākā daļa droši vien nodomā - fuhh, cik labi, ka tas nenotiek ar mani. Cilvēks vispār iekārtots domāt, ka "ar mani jau tas nenotiks". Pirms nedēļas man bija dzimšanas diena, un nākamā nav apsolīta. Plakanšūnu karcinoma. Tur, kur sākas dzīvība. Tūlīt būs mēnesis, kopš slīdu pa zaļo koridoru. Sajūta ir kā tipināt ešafota virzienā, sajūta ir kā ellē, turklāt apzinoties, ka šis vēl ir tikai priekškambaris. Vai man jebkad varētu ienākt prātā, ka vēzis attiektos uz mani? Nē, protams. Tas kaut kā vienmēr atgadās ar citiem, kaut kur blakus, un tomēr - ar citiem... Tāpēc ieķēru iksa premium, lai nav ierobežots zīmju skaits, un tvītošu - esmu 100% droša, ka šo akurāt šajā mirklī lasa vismaz pārdesmit sievietes, kuras vēl neko nenojauš, bet faktiski jau atrodas pirmsvēža stadijā, kad to nelaimi var likvidēt ar pāris šņik-šņak un dzīvot laimīgi nost. Pirmkārt, nekādu simptomu nav gadiem. Man bikucīt sāpēja mugura. Kaut ko nepareizi daru sporta zālē, vienmēr nodomāju. Tad martā parādījās citi simptomi un te nu es esmu - aci pret aci ar nāves bailēm, ar simtiem eksistenciālu jautājumu, ar milzīgu cerību, ka Dieviņš taču nav sataisījies mani tik agri noņemt no trases, un ar totālu paļaušanos uz konvencionālo medicīnu. Ak, meitenes, ja vien es būtu aizgājusi uz skrīningu taisni tad, kad tā vēstule pienāca... Bet nē, tā ilgi nogulēja plauktā. Jo - "uz mani taču tas neattiecas, ar mani jau nekas tāds nenotiks". Pilnīgi noteikti arī starp jums ir tādas, kas laikus izdara visu, ko prasa pasaule, bet pie ārsta iet baidās. Pierakstiņš pie manikīra ir vienmēr, bet pierakstīties pie ārsta - ai, gan jau kaut kad 🙂 Šobrīd, kad vēl tikai gaidu konsīlija spriedumu, man ir daudz laika pārdomāt dzīvi. Lieki teikt, sajūta ir kā mazai meitenei melnā istabā bez logiem, kura izmisīgi cer, ka atvērsies durvis un kāds izvedīs gaismā. Apraudāties var jebkurā mirklī. Daudz lasu, jo nu skaidrs tak, ka vēzis nav tikai medicīniska cēloņlikumsakarību virkne, tam ir arī psihiskais plāns. Un ezotēriskais. Man no dabas iedots ļoti racionāls prāts komplektā ar hiperjūtīgu emocionālo pasauli, tāpēc arī baigā svaidīšanās no vienas bedres otrā. Ironiski, prasīju ģimenes ārstei preventīvi izrakstīt kādus pretsāpju medikamentus, a šī man izraksta antidepresantus 🙂 Es uz tiem vienmēr esmu skatījusies kā uz vārguļu zālēm. Neesmu vēl nopirkusi, bet moš jānoprovē. Skaidrs, ka cilvēkiem vārds 'vēzis' ir sinonīms vārdam 'nāve', lai gan mediķi jau vairākus gadus saka, ka tas nav nāves spriedums, bet hroniska slimība. Šajā ziņā kolēģes žurnālistes ir lieliski piemēri - Henrieta, Supčiks, Evija Unāma... Cīnās un izcīnās. Arta Lāce manā ieskatā vispār ir kiborgs - pēc visa leikēmijas pārciestā viņa ir ne tikai dzīva, bet pat ļoti dzīva! Un forši, ka visas publiski runā. Onkoloģijas skarto rindas nerūk, un katru dienu būs kāds, kuram noderēs zināt, ka... others have been burned by the same fire as you. Nupat lasīju, ka 2050. gadā vēzis tieši vai pastarpināti skars 9 no 10 cilvēkiem. Tātad šai lietai jāpieiet racionāli, un labāk būt hipohondriķim, nekā neiet pie ārstiem vispār. Citādi tas točna ir kaps. Es pati sev tikai pirms pāris dienām nodefinēju, kā uz šo tripu skatīšos. Kā uz eksāmenu pirms izkāpšanas galapieturā, un tādā melnā humora mērcē. Ja tic reinkarnācijai, tad cilvēka uzdevums ir aiziet no šīs pasaules maķenīt gudrākam nekā ienāci. Bikucīt uzlabot karmiskos rādītājus. Ja man izdosies aizklauvēties līdz pilsoņiem vismaz neignorēt uzaicinājumus uz skrīningiem, jau būs padarīta darba sajūta. Ja man izdosies nenomirt, citas zinās, ka, re, tas ir iespējams. Ja tomēr gals būs bēdīgs... lasām vēlreiz to rindiņu par "aizklauvēties". P.S. Gaidot RAKUSā uz magnētisko, izdomāju izšuvumu dakteru ķitelīšiem. "God is busy, may I help you?" Vai nav feini, ko? 🙂 P.S.S. Līdzjūtības manā taimlainā, lūdzu, nē. Vismaz pagaidām es savā spogulī redzu jaunu, skaistu, ziedošu sievieti. #Vēzis #Empātija #Dzīve