Alexandria activists arrested in solidarity protest with Mahienhour al-Massry

A number of Alexandria-based activists were arrested on Thursday following a solidarity protest with jailed activist Mahienhour al-Massry.

Massry was taken into custody after an appeals court affirmed a two-year sentence against her and eight others on Tuesday for breaking the Protest Law.

Activist Mohamed Gabr told Mada Masr that security forces stormed the headquarters of the Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights where a press conference was held to launch a campaign to free Massry and the eight jailed activists.

“We held the press conference and organized a protest in front of the center following the presser. Police forces attacked protesters after the demonstration had finished and headed to the center’s headquarters, storming it and arresting many of the employees,” Gabr said.

The detained activists include lawyer Mohamed Awad, Taher Mokhtar, Metry Gobreal, Mostafa Eissa, Magdy al-Naquib, Nourhan al-Ashkar, Mohamed Khalil, Essam Mahdy, and Hisham Eissam. Other activists and lawyers, including those working on Massry’s case, were briefly detained.

According to Gabr, police confiscated Massry’s case file and a permit for visitation from her lawyers.

Massry’s case dates back to a gathering on December 2, 2013, outside the trial for police officers accused of murdering Khaled Saeed in 2010. Arrest warrants were issued to five of them based on charges of incitement to violence and the destruction of a police car, independently owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. 

Saeed's death and the public outrage that followed are cited among the events that helped galvanize public opinion against the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.