Detainees released after at least 16 arrests from protest in solidarity with women in Gaza, Sudan

Authorities released 16 people on bail on Wednesday evening after their arrest on Tuesday from a demonstration in solidarity with women in Gaza and Sudan outside the UN Women regional office in Cairo, lawyer Mohamed Fathi told Mada Masr.

The 16 people were held in undisclosed locations on Tuesday night and presented to the Supreme State Security Prosecution in New Cairo on Wednesday, lawyer Khaled Ali said.

They were questioned on charges of joining an illegal group and unlawful assembly in Case 1625/2024, lawyer Mokhtar Mounir told Mada Masr.

Lawyer and activist Mahienour al-Massry was among those arrested, questioned and released, as were prominent feminist activist and Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights researcher Lobna Darwish; journalists Rasha Azab, Iman Ouf and Hadeer al-Mahdawy; and lawyer Ragia Omran.

Journalists Youssef Shaaban and Mohamed Farag were also among those released, despite not having participated in the protest. Shaaban was reportedly passing by the area, while Farag was on his way to pick up his child from a nursery.

Shabaan and Farag were released without bail. The other detainees were released after posting bails ranging from LE5,000 to LE10,000. Omran, Massry, Azab and Ouf had their bails set at the higher end of said range.

A number of other activists and passersby were also arrested in the vicinity of the protest on Tuesday and subsequently released without questioning on Wednesday, said Ali.

The Justice Support Foundation, which is affiliated with the Arab Centre for Independence of Judiciary and Legal Profession, condemned security forces — both state security personnel and the security team at the UN Women office — for deploying “unjustified violence” against demonstrators and other citizens, as well as for the forceful dispersal of the demonstration and the confiscation of the mobile phones of some of the protesters.

At least one person’s mobile phone was confiscated by a police official on Tuesday, while at least two of the demonstrators were handled with force. Massry was dragged away, said eyewitnesses.

The Justice Support Foundation also condemned the fact that those arrested on Tuesday were held at an undisclosed location and were not allowed to contact their families or lawyers, in what the organization described as “a clear violation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

A group of journalists, including former Journalists Syndicate head Yehia Qallash, called on the current head and syndicate council to call for a meeting of the general assembly to defend  freedom of expression, and to take all necessary measures to release the detained journalists.