Quoting from Breitbart.com:

This weekend Amnesty International called on authorities in Egypt to free 16 Internet activists jailed for over two weeks under the charge of “threatening national security.”

Amnesty International believes all 16 to be prisoners of conscience, detained for their participation” in a “peaceful protest in the city of Alexandria on 23 July,” the London-based rights group said in a statement.

Of specific concern to the group are the fates of two activists, Ahmed Afifi and Mohammed Taher. Of them, Amnesty has said: “It is not known where they are held and Amnesty International fears they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.”

The detentions arose from the individuals’ involvement in the ‘6 April Youth’ Facebook group. Amnesty International believes them to be prisoners of conscience detained merely for exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. The ‘6 April’ group on Facebook has more than 72,000 members, and earlier this year it called for a day of protest at rising prices.

The arrests took place on Wednesday, after a group of about 30 young people gathered on a beach in Alexandria for a peaceful protest. This wouldn’t be a problem except that public protests are illegal under the state of emergency in force in Egypt for the last 27 years. Amnesty reports that on Thursday the detainees were ordered to be held for 15 days pending further investigation.

“Bloggers continue to face threats and harassment for their work as rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly continue to be restricted in Egypt,” the organization said.

The Facebook group was established in March by 27-year-old Esra Abdel Fattah, calling for the protests against price hikes. She was detained, but later freed after her mother made an appeal to Interior Minister Habib al-Adli.

Bookmark It