Detention of Friday of Land protesters renewed for 15 days

The detention of 25 people arrested on Friday during protests was renewed Monday for 15 days, lawyer Mokhtar Mounir said.

The protesters were arrested during a demonstration at the Journalists Syndicate against the transfer of sovereign control of the Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir, located at the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba, to Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, the 25 protesters were ordered to be detained for four days pending investigations.

The detainees have been charged with conducting a protest without authorization, disrupting public transportation and the flow of traffic, as well as breaching public order and illegal assembly, all crimes under the 2013 protest law that could lead to sentences of two to five years in prison, as well as a fine of up to LE100,000.

While the protesters were ordered to be released on Saturday, the Qasr al-Nil prosecution reversed the decision within hours, extending their detention pending investigations by National Security.

Five of those detained have claimed that they were physically assaulted and filed a separate complaint, Mounir said. They were referred to the forensics department to sign medical reports after they claimed they were beaten and tortured at the Qasr al-Nil Police Station.

The stand in front of the Journalists Syndicate, which drew over 1,500 protesters, was one of several demonstrations held nationwide on Friday in protest over the transfer of the islands to Saudi Arabia. There were also large protests on Talaat Harb Street and Champolion Street in downtown Cairo, according to eyewitnesses.

Meanwhile, the Montazah prosecution in Alexandria ordered on Saturday the detention of four protesters for 15 days pending investigations, while 31 others were released elsewhere in Alexandria.

Several political parties, as well as public figures, condemned the detention of the protesters in a statement Sunday, after a decision to release them was issued.

The statement said that the release of some of the protesters confirms that those who protested “did not commit any crimes that warrant detention.”

It also added that the abrupt reversal of the decision raises questions around “the role of security bodies in the case.”