Egypt after the 2011 uprising: the implications of transitional justice in a non-liberal transition

Analysing transitional justice mechanisms in the non-liberal transition of post-revolutionary Egypt, from the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak to the election of ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi, this article seeks to enhance the understanding of the character of the transition period and the re-establishment of authoritarianism in Egypt, but also to shed light on the implications of the manipulation of transitional justice in order to bolster repressive structures in non-liberal transitions. Based on analysing transitional justice as a contested process whose mechanism and outcomes are shaped according to specific domestic power structures and coalitions, the article argues that the ability of Egypt’s elites, led by the military, to control the transitional justice process and to manipulate it to enhance their power and interests depended on their coercive capacity but was also a product of their ability to utilise the deep gaps among political forces, which had different interests and perceptions regarding transitional justice (reformative or revolutionary) in order to create shifting alliances and agreements on the boundaries of transitional justice and hence affect its outcomes.