Prosecution opposes release of 5 Matareya residents charged with inciting protest for road maintenance

A local court gave orders on Saturday for the release of five residents of Matareya, Daqahlia, who have been detained since November for demonstrating to demand that authorities conduct road maintenance in the wake of a fatal accident.

The prosecution appealed the release decision, however, requesting that the five residents be kept in detention facilities, and a circuit of the Mansoura Criminal Court accepted the appeal on Monday, their lawyer, Hasan al-Melhat, told Mada Masr.

As per the court order, they will now be held in detention for another 45 days. 

The five were among 29 people arrested in November after security forces clashed with dozens of Mataryia residents, using gunfire and teargas, who had blocked an accident-ridden road to demand action from local authorities following a vehicle collision that claimed 13 lives. 

Twenty-three of those arrested were released days later, pending charges of joining a protest, while a minor was released after being placed in a juvenile observation home for a week.

The remaining five, however, were detained on charges of inciting the protest.

The advisory chamber of the Dikirnis Misdemeanor Appeals Court had decided on Sunday morning to release the five on bail of LE10,000 each, according to Melhat. But the Mansoura Public Prosecution appealed the decision within hours.

The tenth chamber of the Mansoura Criminal Court accepted the appeal on Monday and ordered that the five defendants’ detention be renewed for another 45 days.

In November, Mataryia residents gathered to protest the deteriorating conditions and lack of services on the Mataryia-Port Said road, a critical route connecting Daqahlia to industrial jobs in neighboring Port Said, which had become notorious for frequent car crashes.

Shortly after the protest, the governors of Daqahlia and Port Said gave orders to repair and maintain the road.