9 Maadi protesters released, 16 others detained for 15 more days

The Maadi Prosecution has ordered the release of nine of the 25 people arrested while protesting in Maadi on the third anniversary of the January 25 revolution.

The remaining 16 people were remanded to 15 days more detention pending investigations.

A total of 1,079 people were arrested nationwide during Saturday’s protests, according to the Interior Ministry.

The prominent liberal activist Nazly Hussein was among those released on Monday, according to her mother Ghada Shahbandar. Hussein has been heavily involved in efforts to help political detainees since 2011.

State media had reported that the protesters were arrested on Saturday when they started allegedly started shooting at the Maadi metro station and attempted to stage protests inside.

However, according to an eyewitness account by journalist Karem Yehia that he posted on his Facebook page, protesters had arrived at the metro station chanting against the military and the Muslim Brotherhood when they were ambushed by another group of “thugs,” as well as both uniformed and plain-clothed police forces.

Yehia said there were also masked armed men among these “thugs” who started shooting inside the station. 

The protesters, however, were unarmed, the journalist attested.

The protesters were allegedly denied legal recourse, lawyer Ahmed Ezzat wrote on his Facebook page after their detention, claiming that policemen threatened to shoot fellow lawyers Amr Imam and Mahmoud Bilal when they attempted to enter the Maadi police station where the protesters were detained.

The Front to Defend Egypt Protesters announced on Sunday morning that the prosecution was headed to the Maadi police station to interrogate the protesters, and by Monday morning the group was referred to National Security Investigations on charges of having ties with the recently banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

In December, Egypt’s interim government officially classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist organization,” and moved to freeze its assets and close hundreds of its offices and associations nationwide.

Anyone who is found to be a member of the outlawed organization, propagates the teachings or ideologies of the group either in writing or verbally, or possesses publications or recordings supporting the Brotherhood could receive a sentence of five years or more in prison.