70 people detained after calls to protest decline in living conditions

At least 70 people were detained in recent days following a series of arrests authorities undertook in relation to posts published on social media calling for protests.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, whose lawyers acted on behalf of some of those arrested, said those arrested were questioned in relation to charges including spreading false news, misuse of social media and joining a terrorist group.

Defendants who were investigated by the State Security Prosecution were asked about the protests, presented with social media posts from their personal accounts as evidence, and had their phones taken into custody, EIPR said. Some of the posts included complaints about the ongoing daily power outages and price increases.

EIPR said that 33 detainees were interrogated on July 9 and 10 regarding their involvement in the protest calls. The prosecution charged them with "joining a terrorist group, using social media to promote its goals, and spreading false news and statements locally and internationally.” The prosecution’s case relies solely on posts retrieved from the detainees’ social media accounts criticizing ongoing electricity outages and rising prices, according to EIPR.

The 70 people were ultimately ordered detained for 15 days pending further investigation in Supreme State Security Case 3434/2024.

Lawyer Khaled Ali told Mada Masr on Monday that, following more interrogations conducted over the course of July 12 and 13, a total of 70 people, including those mentioned by EIPR, were ordered detained by the State Security Prosecution in the same case.

In its statement, EIPR also condemned the State Security Prosecution for adding hundreds of people to mass cases investigating people in relation to protest calls almost annually since 2019. Many of those arrested in the campaigns remain in remand detention beyond the two-year limit stipulated for detention prior to trial for the most serious criminal offenses, the EIPR stated.

Calls were circulated online in the lead-up to July for what was dubbed the karama revolution, or revolution of dignity. Posts called on people to gather in streets across Egypt on Friday, July 12, to protest deteriorating living conditions for millions of Egyptians under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government.

People complained about the increasing power outages and high prices as the government proceeds with its plan to cut back on state subsidies, which it embarked on in 2016.

The calls received varying responses, with some expressing skepticism at the fact that no specific entity or person was calling for the demonstrations and that the calls were being disseminated predominantly by Egyptians abroad.

Calls to protest, beginning in 2019 with calls from self-exiled state contractor Mohamed Ali to protest Sisi’s government, have been circulated almost annually. Small protests held in response to some of these calls have been met with a harsh security response.