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A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 30 March 2019
Upstart liberal vs establishment in Slovak president vote

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) ished third and fourth, re-
— An upstart liberal candi- spectively, together taking
date is facing a career dip- 25 percent of the vote.
lomat and establishment ____
figure in a presidential run- ZUZANA CAPUTOVA
off Saturday that could Caputova, a 45-year-old
give Slovakia its first female lawyer, is a rising star of Slo-
head of state. vak politics. She became
Zuzana Caputova, an en- known for leading a suc-
vironmental activist, is up cessful fight against a toxic
against European Commis- waste dump in her home
sion vice-president Maros town of Pezinok, near the
Sefcovic in the vote for the capital, Bratislava, for
largely ceremonial post in which she received an in-
the nation of 5.4 million. ternational environmental
The winner will become the prize in 2016. A divorced
country's fifth head of state mother of two who is in fa-
since Slovakia gained in- vor of gay rights and oppos-
dependence in 1993 after es a ban on abortion in this
Czechoslovakia split in two. conservative Roman Cath-
Incumbent Andrej Kiska did olic country, she attracts
not stand for a second term In this file picture taken on Saturday, March 16, 2019, Presidential candidate Zuzana Caputova those who are appalled by
answers questions to media as she arrives at her election headquarters to watch the results of the
and is backing Caputova. first round of the presidential election in Bratislava, Slovakia. corruption and mainstream
___ Associated Press politics. She was also part
WHY THE RUNOFF? of a campaign in 2017 that
None of the 13 candi- vanced to the runoff. Ca- 18.7 percent. Their success for the future, pro-Russian led to the annulment of
dates won a majority in the putova took 40.6 percent prevented any far right candidate Stefan Harabin pardons granted by former
March 16 first round, so the of the first vote, with Sefco- or populist candidate ad- and neo-Nazi party chair- authoritarian Prime Minister
two top vote-getters ad- vic a distant second with vancing, but in a warning man Marian Kotleba fin- Vladimir Meciar.q

Egyptian pro-democracy activist free after 5 years in prison

By MAGGIE MICHAEL support of Abdel-Fattah, one of Egypt's most tireless
Associated Press including "Free Alaa," post- rights lawyers, his sisters are
CAIRO (AP) — A leading ed videos for him grinning, also political activists and
Egyptian pro-democracy hugging and shaking hands his aunt is award-winning
activist was freed from pris- with friends as he walked novelist Ahdaf Soueif.
on early Friday after serv- out of a police station in But Abdel-Fattah's five-year
ing a five-year sentence Cairo. In the background, sentence was his longest
for inciting and taking part women were ululating. prison term. He was con-
in protests, his family and Though out of prison, Ab- victed for taking part in a
lawyer said. The terms of his del-Fattah's sentence stipu- peaceful demonstration
release, however, require lates that for the next five following the military's oust-
that he report to a police years he will be under "po- er in July 2013 of Egypt's
station every day for the lice observation" and has freely elected but contro-
next five years. to report to a police station versial Islamist President
Alaa Abdel-Fattah rose to every day. In some cases, Mohammed Morsi.
prominence with the 2011 released convicts only sign After Morsi's ouster, Egypt's
Arab Spring uprisings that a logbook and then leave military-backed transitional
swept the Middle East and the police station but in authorities waged a heavy
in Egypt, toppled long-time others, measures are hash- crackdown on his support-
President Hosni Mubarak. er. ers who had rallied against
To many, his imprisonment Photojournalist Mahmoud his ouster, including a sit-in
three years later — at a Abu Zaid, popularly known by Islamists in Cairo that
time when authorities im- as "Shawkan," who was re- was broken up by security
posed draconian laws ban- leased earlier this month forces in an operation that
ning public gatherings and also after a five-year term, left hundreds dead.
unauthorized demonstra- has to spend the nights at Within weeks, the gov-
tions — was another sign of the police station for the ernment also went after
Egypt's return to autocratic next five years. He is also secular and liberal activ-
rule. prohibited from manag- ists who opposed a newly
Abdel-Fattah's sisters, Mona ing his financial assets and In this Aug. 28, 2014 file photo, surrounded by plainclothes po- introduced law banning
licemen, Egyptian prominent blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah waves
and Sanaa Seif, posted on property for the duration to the crowd after attending the funeral of his father, Ahmed street protests without prior
Facebook that "Alaa is out," of those five years — mea- Seif, in Cairo, Egypt. permission from authorities.
along with a video of him sures that Amnesty Inter- Associated Press The new law required par-
at home, playing with a national has called "outra- ticipants to formally ask the
dog. His lawyer, Khaled Ali, geous." An outspoken dissident, Ab- social media and in public. Interior Ministry three days
confirmed the release by It's unclear to what extent del-Fattah was detained An influential blogger, he in advance whether they
posting: "Thanks God, Alaa that part of Abdel-Fattah's several times before under hails from a family of po- can hold a rally while also
Abdel-Fattah at home." sentence will be carried different governments for litical activists, lawyers, and setting prison terms and
Facebook pages set up in out. lobbying for civil rights on writers. His late father was high fines for violators.q