Numbers detained in this week’s raids unclear, some sent to prosecution
Haytham Mohamadeen
 

 

Ahead of protests planned for Sinai Liberation Day on Monday against Egypt’s ceding of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, the fate of scores of individuals arrested since Thursday is unclear. 

Dozens were arrested in collective round-ups by security forces across the governorates of Alexandria, Cairo, Giza, Gharbiya, Munifiya and Sharqiya on Thursday and Friday, according to Egyptian prisoner rights group Freedom for the Brave.

The Ministry of Interior has not commented on the numbers of those arrested or released since Thursday, although it did issue a statement congratulating President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the defense minister and top military generals in anticipation of Sinai Liberation Day.

On Friday Freedom for the Brave  issued a list of dozens of people it reports as being detained since Thursday, apparently in light of a crackdown ahead of Monday’s planned protests. It is not clear exactly how many have been released since or how many will be referred to prosecution.

Human rights lawyer Malek Adly told Mada Masr that 13 detainees arrested over the past couple of days are being referred to Al-Abbassiya Criminal Court on Saturday.

“Prosecutors there are to determine whether they will be released or detained pending investigations,” he said. “Since their arrests over the past couple days, this group of detainees has been held in the Nasr City (First) Police Station.”

Among these arrests were people rounded up from coffee shops and streets around downtown Cairo and other locations in the capital.

Adly tweeted on Saturday that another detainee, prominent leftist activist and labor lawyer Haytham Mohamadeen, who was arrested from his apartment, is to be held in detention on prosecutors’ orders for 15 days pending investigations.

Ragia Omran, a lawyer and member of the National Council for Human Rights, confirmed this news and told privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on Saturday that the Saff district prosecutor may charge Mohamadeen with instigating protests, seeking to overthrow the ruling regime, and/or affiliation with an illegal organization.

Lawyer Sameh Samir wrote on Facebook that Mohamadeen may specifically be charged with affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood – which the state officially classified as being a terrorist organization on December 25, 2013.

Mohamadeen is a spokesperson and leading member of the secular Revolutionary Socialists group, and was arrested in a dawn raid on his apartment in Giza on Friday morning.

A group of 25 individuals has remained in police custody since the street rallies of April 15, known as the Friday of the Land protests. These protesters had been demanding that Sisi not handover the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, as announced by the state on April 9.

According to the state-owned Al-Akhbar news portal, the Qasr al-Nil district prosecutor will review their detention on May 3 and determine if they will be held for another renewable period of 15 days, referred to trial or released.

These 25 detainees have been charged with partaking in protests without permits, illegal assembly, blocking roads, obstructing transportation and seeking to disrupt public security. These crimes were all criminalized under the 2013 Protest Law, which stipulates sentences of between two to five years imprisonment, as well as fines of up to LE100,000.

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