Public figures demand release of two activists

A group of public figures went to the general prosecutor’s office on Tuesday to demand the release of Popular Alliance Party member Ahmed Abu Zeid, and Bread and Freedom Party member Nesma Youssef, both detained for four days pending investigation.

Abu Zeid was arrested on Saturday in the Salam area where he gives literacy courses as part of the Popular Alliance Party’s social work. The party had acquired a permit to set up a cooperative in the area, aiming to develop it.

According to Abu Zeid’s lawyer Yasmine Hossam al-Din, residents of the area came to Abu Zeid for help, telling him that they wanted to organize a protest against evictions in the neighborhood.

As Abu Zeid was explaining the procedures necessary to obtain a permit, two onlookers started to shout that he was inciting people to protest and he was arrested and taken to the police station. According to Hossam al-Din, they were informants for the Ministry of Interior and were planted in the group that attends Abu Zeid’s classes.

Abu Zeid was charged with propagating false information to destabilize the general peace.

The next day, when Abu Zeid’s co-worker Nesma Youssef went to the prosecutor’s office to deliver his work records, she was arrested while filming a brawl that broke out, and was charged with the misuse of communication devices and threatening witnesses.

Youssef was ordered to spend the night in detention on the spot without due process, Hossam al-Din says.

She adds that the prosecutor refused to listen to the defendants' witnesses and only listened to those who supported the charges against them.

The prosecutor ordered four days of detention for both Youssef and Abu Zeid whilst an investigation is carried out. Hossam al-Din says that since the sentences for the charges they face are less than six months, they are not legally eligible for detention under investigation.

On Tuesday, Dostour Party President Hala Shukrallah, National Council for Human Rights member George Ishak and Social Democratic Party President Mohamed Abul Ghar, among others, visited the general prosecutor to demand the release of the activists.

The prosecutor will determine on Wednesday whether to extend their detention or release them.

The Popular Alliance Party issued a statement on Monday denouncing the continued targeting of the youth of the revolution by the Ministry of Interior and demanding the ministry focuses on combating terrorism. The party demanded the release of both activists and the restructuring of the ministry to protect the rights of civilians.

The party also posed a question in its statement to the two presidential candidates, asking them what their position is regarding the controversial Protest Law and the random arrests that have been taking place over the last few months.

Over a thousand people have been arrested under the stipulations of the law, which was issued last November, imposing extreme restrictions on the right to assemble.

Many activists whose names have been most associated with the 2011 uprising have been arrested, with some given long sentences.