Civil forces delegation meets with prosecutor, demands release of political prisoners

A delegation of representatives from political parties and human rights groups met Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat on Monday to demand the release of political prisoners.

Former presidential candidate and head of the Popular Current Party Hamdeen Sabbahi, Dostour Party leader Hala Shukrallah and National Council of Human Rights (NCHR) member George Ishaq were among those present at the meeting.

In a Popular Current Party statement issued on Monday, Sabbahi demanded the release of party member Amr Adel, who is currently being held on allegations of belonging to a terrorist organization. Sabbahi presented Barakat with documents proving Adel was a member of his presidential campaign and had no relationship to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

In addition, Sabbahi called for the release of activist Sanaa Seif, the sister of imprisoned activist Alaa Abd El Fattah. Both are charged with violating the Protest Law.

The delegation argued Seif should be released given her father’s critical health condition after suffering from cardiac arrest last week.

Sabbahi also enjoined the prosecutor to release Mohamed al-Beily and Rania al-Sheikh, two other Popular Current members who were arrested with Seif.

According to the statement, Barakat promised to investigate the delegation’s complaints.

“I wish a speedy recovery to my struggling friend Ahmed Seif al-Islam [Seif’s father]. Justice requires releasing all prisoners of free speech, and humanity requires an immediate release of Alaa Abd El Fattah,” Sabbahi tweeted on Friday.

Also on Monday, protesters demonstrated in front of the Journalists Syndicate to support jailed activist Mohamed Soltan, who has entered the 212th day of his hunger strike — currently the longest hunger strike held by any inmate in Egypt. The protest was cut short out of fear of attacks from security forces.

Wiki Thawra — an initiative created by Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights (ECSER) to document all those detained, arrested and killed since the January 25 uprising — reported that around 40,000 people have been detained since former President Mohamed Morsi fell from power on July 3, 2013. Of those arrested, 89 percent were detained on political grounds, and 4 percent on terrorism-related charges.