Researcher of Islamist movements arrested for alleged Brotherhood links

Executive director of the Civilization Center for Political Studies and PhD candidate at Cairo University Medhat Maher was arrested last week for alleged links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, his brother Hamdy Maher told Mada Masr on Sunday.

Maher, whose research focuses on Islamist movements, had his detention extended by 15 days on Sunday. He was arrested at midnight on February 21 from his home, according to his brother, and accused of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization and the unlawful possession of arms.

The evidence collected against him includes, “books related to Islamist movements and his doctoral thesis. When he was asked about the books, he explained they are part of his work as a researcher, which shouldn’t be a crime,” Hamdy said.

Maher was detained previously in September 2014 on similar charges but released six months later. “He was accused one and a half years ago for belonging to the Brotherhood, and he faces the same charges again after being acquitted,” Hamdy explained, adding that his brother was the only defendant in the case that was sentenced to 15 days, unlike the others, who were only detained for four days.

“Using ‘belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood’ as the pretext for arresting [Maher] for owning some books on Islamist movements is evidence of the crime this government is committing against freedoms. The restriction of freedoms is now not just tied to protesting or expression, but has been extended to thinking and scientific research,” Nadia Mostafa, director of the Civilization Center for Political Studies said in a statement on Thursday.

“This issue has been and will continue to be on the agenda of the center,” she added, explaining that Maher was planning to research the ways in which Egyptian and Arab intellectuals view political Islam.