Amnesty International Demands Release of Dozens Detained in Egypt in Pre-Election Crackdown on Opposition
(New York) -- Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities today to immediately release 70 Muslim Brotherhood members arrested this week. The organization said the arrests evidently were intended to disrupt campaigning and block public support for the organization's candidates in parliamentary elections Nov. 29.
More than 150 people have been arrested since the Muslim Brotherhood chairman, Mohamed Badie, said on October 9 that the group will put up candidates in the upcoming election.
About half of those arrested have been released. The 70 still held include supporters of Muslim Brotherhood election candidates and several regional leaders of the organization, including, Mohamed Sweidan of Baheira, Mustafa al-Khouli and Essam al-Gharbawi.
“Those arrested appear to be detained solely on account of their association with the Muslim Brotherhood organization,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The arrests appear intended to disrupt Muslim Brotherhood campaigning and deter people from supporting the organization in the coming elections.”
The arrests were made across 17 Egyptian regions including Baheira, Qina, Aswan, Sharqiya, and Alexandria.
“If the forthcoming elections are to be fair and credible, the Egyptian government must ensure that they are conducted on a ‘level playing field’ and uphold the rights to freedom of association of all candidates and their supporters,” said Smart.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been officially banned in Egypt since 1954. However, it has continued to operate openly and leaders and supporters of the organization have stood as independent candidates in previous parliamentary elections, in many cases successfully.
It has wide popular support and is generally seen as the main rival to Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, strimel@aiusa.org
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
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