Amr Hamzawy, an internationally respected political scientist, was born in Cairo during the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser, grew up in the years of Anwar Sadat, graduated from university in the time of Hosni Mubarak and is likely to be imprisoned by the future administration of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Two decades ago, Mr. Hamzawy, 46, garnered graduate degrees in Europe and worked in Washington and Beirut for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He returned to Egypt as the 2011 revolution was unfolding, wanting to help usher in real democracy.
He was no protester and certainly no Islamist. In that uprising, Mr. Hamzawy was a member of a group of so-called "wise men" who sought to negotiate a peaceful handover of power from President Mubarak to a new leadership. He was elected to parliament as an independent for a Cairo constituency in the country's first truly democratic election of 2012.
Mr. Hamzawy was critical of the undemocratic acts of the Muslim Brotherhood administration of Mohamed Morsi and he's been a critic of the violent repression meted out by the military-backed authorities against the Brotherhood since the army overthrew the Morsi regime in July.
So, today, Mr. Hamzawy is under arrest, banned from leaving Egypt while he awaits trial for "insulting the judiciary." His criminal act: a Twitter message he sent out in June, last year, in which he criticized the conviction of 43 foreign and Egyptian employees of pro-democracy organizations. He said the verdict demonstrated the "politicization" of the judiciary.
The tweet took place during the last days of the Morsi presidency, yet it was only in January, under the interim administration that these charges were brought.
Egypt today is undergoing a period of repression reminiscent more of the dark days of the Nasser era than even the heavy-handed Mubarak years.
On Thursday, 20 people, said to be affiliated with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite channel, went on trial in Cairo for spreading false information that was considered detrimental to Egypt. (Their trial was adjourned until March 5.)
While many people have heard of the three Al Jazeera journalists (one of them a dual Egyptian-Canadian citizen) charged with belonging to a terrorist organization (the Brotherhood), few realized there were 17 other journalists also brought to trial, 12 of whom are being tried in absentia.
Some such as Dutch journalist, Rena Netjes of the Netherlands Parool newspaper, were unconnected to Al Jazeera. Ms. Netjes went into hiding and fled Egypt after discovering she was one of the 20 facing charges of promoting the goals of a terrorist group.
"Egyptian authorities in recent months have demonstrated almost zero tolerance for any form of dissent; arresting and prosecuting journalists, demonstrators, and academics for peacefully expressing their views," Human Rights Watch said in a report published Thursday.
Beyond Al Jazeera, which, it must be said, is viewed by many in the region as being pro-Brotherhood, Egyptian authorities have reportedly detained 18 contributors to the citizen news network, Rassd, since July, including two who are facing military trials.
In recent weeks they also have arrested Egyptian filmmaker, Hossam al-Meneai, who told HRW he was tortured, and Yemeni blogger, Feras Shamsan, following interviews he conducted at the annual Cairo Book Fair. He too faces charges of spreading false news about the Egyptian authorities and taking photographs without permission.
Mr. Hamzawy, a professor at the American University in Cairo, is not the only academic being charged. Cairo University political science professor Emad Shahin has also been accused of conspiring with foreign organizations to harm Egyptian national security. Like Mr. Hamzawy, Mr. Shahin was a vocal critic of Mr. Morsi's government as well as critical of the bloody repression of the Brotherhood following the military coup. Unlike Mr. Hamzawi, Mr. Shahin left Egypt before the charges were laid.
Demonstrators by the thousands have been prosecuted. The vast majority have been associated with the Brotherhood, but in the days before the constitutional referendum on January 14 and 15, police even arrested seven peaceful activists from the Strong Egypt Party for distributing posters calling for a "no" vote and for protesting military trials of civilians, corruption, and rights abuses by the Interior Ministry.
Strong Egypt is the political party of Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former member of the Brotherhood who came fourth in the 2012 presidential election.
The activists have been released, notes HRW, but face various charges including attempting to overthrow the government.
With hundreds of Brotherhood members locked away, many facing the possibility of a death sentence, protest all but banned and journalists and academics silenced, Egypt is beginning to resemble the kind of police state created by Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s. And this is happening even before Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi becomes president – he is expected to declare his candidacy March 1.
Nasser's prisons were full of those who opposed his actions, especially members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Dozens were executed and thousands languished in the filth of Tora and other prisons.
But it is worth noting that from Nasser's jails, alongside fear, came a potent blend of religiosity and determination that inspired new generations of Islamists to take the Brotherhood and subsequent militant groups to new levels of violence.
The jailhouse writings of Sayyid Qutb, who was hanged by Nasser in 1966, led to the assassinations of Islamic Jihad, the terrorism of Gamaa Islamiya and even the worldview of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The people of Egypt have longed for a period of law and order after three years of chaotic uprisings and protests, but it would be a mistake to think they want a return to what Nasser begat.