Egypt Continues To Arrest Government Critics

On 16 November, security agents in plain clothes arrested Egyptian social media figure Islam al-Refaei. The Egyptian authorities ordered him to be detained on the trumped-up charge of “belonging to a banned group”. On 13 December, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered the renewal of Islam al-Refaei’s detention for 15 more days, pending investigation for “belonging to a banned group”, and added six more individuals to the case.

On 16 November, security agents in plain clothes arrested Egyptian social media figure Islam al-Refaei. The Egyptian authorities ordered him to be detained on the trumped-up charge of “belonging to a banned group”. On 13 December, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered the renewal of Islam al-Refaei’s detention for 15 more days, pending investigation for “belonging to a banned group”, and added six more individuals to the case. 1) TAKE ACTION Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

• Immediately and unconditionally release Islam al-Refaei, Hossam el-Swefy and Ahmed Abdel Aziz, as they are imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression or peaceful assembly;
• Ensure that, while detained, the three men have all their due process rights upheld, including access to legal representation and the right to challenge the lawfulness of their detention;
• Cease the practice of prolonged and arbitrary pre-trial detention.

Contact these two officials by 31 January, 2018:

Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek Office of the Public Prosecutor, Dar al-Qada al-Ali, Down Town Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt Fax: +20225774716 Salutation: Dear Counsellor

Ambassador Yasser Reda, Embassy of Egypt 3521 International Ct NW, Washington DC 20008 Phone: 202 895 5400 Fax: 202 244 4319 OR 202 244 5131 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Ambassador

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