Update: 3 young men released from police custody after arrest for setting up camera on Cairo balcony

Three young men were released from police custody Tuesday afternoon after their arrest for setting up a camera on a downtown balcony, their lawyer told Mada Masr.

Police initially arrested five young men, including a twelve-year-old boy, from their rental apartment on Sunday night after one of them reportedly attempted to take a photograph from their balcony in Downtown Cairo.

Two of the five arrested were released on Monday night, and the other three were remanded in custody at Azbakiya Police Station in central Cairo, according to lawyer Ahmed Osman from the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.

Osman told Mada Masr police raided the apartment after security forces saw one of them setting up his camera on the balcony to take a panoramic image.

Police confiscated computers, phones, cameras, papers, books and documents from the apartment to be examined by investigators. “They ransacked the apartment and took almost everything in it, with the exception of the furniture,” Osman told Mada Masr.

The apartment, on Gomhoriya Street, was rented by three male students. They were all arrested, along with two other young men who were visiting them, Osman explained.

“The only thing near their apartment of any significance is the Central Bank of Egypt. But, I don’t know if the bank was visible from the balcony,” Osman said, speculating as to why police were suspicious of the young men.

Azbakiya Police Station denied Osman access to the three men in custody. “They even denied their detention at the police station, despite the fact that I saw one of them – Ahmed Nour Eddin – with my own eyes as he was being escorted through the police station in front of me,” Osman told Mada Masr.

“When I told police at the station, “That is Ahmed Nour Eddin and I know him personally,” the policeman responded, “No it is not.”

Osman launched a sarcastic hashtag on his personal Facebook page, writing, “You are accused of taking part in an attempt to take a photograph.”

The two young men arrested and released Monday night are 12-year-old Abdel Rahman Nour Eddin (Ahmed Nour Eddin’s younger brother) and Mohamed al-Saeed. The other young men remanded in custody with Ahmed Nour Eddin and released Tuesday are Mahmoud Mahmoud and Mahmoud Ahmed, their lawyer told Mada Masr.