Opinion | In Egypt, a voice of protest is jailed. End the carousel of repression.

The arrest of Mr. Kassem is particularly disturbing. He is former chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and was previously publisher of Al-Masry Al-Youm, an independent newspaper. In 2007, he was honored by the National Endowment for Democracy with its Democracy Award. He has been a strong advocate for independent journalism in Egypt and highly critical of Mr. Sisi’s military rule at a time when Egypt is in a deep economic crisis. Mr. Kassem told the BBC last month, “The change that needs to happen is not just about Sisi no longer being in power, but a restructuring of the Egyptian economy that cannot happen with the military in power.” He and others launched the four-party al-Tayar al-Hurr, or Free Current, a political coalition planning to oppose Mr. Sisi in next year’s elections.