ENHR: After deportation from Bahrain, 2 Egyptian opposition figures detained pending terrorism charges

After being deported to Egypt from Bahrain, opposition figures Al-Sayed Mohamed Mahmoud Ajez and Mohamed Al-Iraqi Saad Hassanein were ordered detained last week pending investigation into terrorism charges, their lawyers said.

Both Ajez and Hassanain had been legal residents of Bahrain for eight years. They were arrested in Bahrain on August 3, said a statement from the Egyptian Network for Human Rights, and deported to Egypt on August 6.

Ajez and Hassanein are the latest to be affected by heightened scrutiny on Egyptian opposition figures living abroad, with authorities in both Qatar and Turkey also responding to requests from Egypt to tighten restrictions on opposition expatriates residing in their countries.

Their arrest in Bahrain was made following an Interpol notice, a fact described as an inappropriate use of the international policing body to pursue political issues by a presenter on the Turkey-based Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Mekameleen television channel

Ajez is a businessperson holding Turkish and Egyptian citizenship with a valid Bahraini resident identity card. His family members, who spoke with the Egyptian Network for Human Rights, believe he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Egypt. 

A source close to the Egyptian opposition leadership abroad speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity said that the Turkish Embassy in Bahrain refused to interfere and stop the deportation of Ajez, a claim reiterated by the Mekameleen presenter.

Ajez is currently held by order of the Public Prosecution pending investigation into charges of funding and leading a terrorist group, said his lawyer, Ismail al-Rashidy, in comments to Mada Masr. 

Iraqi, a computer engineer, was previously sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court in a case investigating the violent dispersal of the Rabea al-Adewaya sit-in in 2013, which saw authorities clash with armed supporters of ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. 

Iraqi is also now being held on charges of funding and joining a terrorist organization, said his lawyer, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

The Egyptian Front for Human Rights and the ENHR expressed concern that Ajez and Iraqi “may face inhumane conditions, the risk of torture, and enforced disappearances, which have already occurred in similar cases.”

Their arrests in Bahrain, said ENHR in a statement on August 5, is a sign of increased exchange of security information between Arab countries to track residents in their territories, calling on United Nations rights groups to stop the deportations.

Elsewhere in recent months, Egyptian opposition figures and members of the Muslim Brotherhood abroad have faced pressure in Turkey and Qatar on the basis of their political backgrounds.

In July, Turkish authorities arrested 50 Egyptians as part of a security campaign that coincided with a scheduled visit to Ankara by President Abdelfattah al-Sisi, which was ultimately canceled. A month earlier in Qatar, authorities demanded that 100 Egyptian nationals leave the country, while a further 250 have already left Qatar amid pressure from Cairo for their extradition since relations between Egypt and Qatar began to thaw in 2022.