EGYPTIAN POLICE DETAINS FOUR ACTIVISTS FOR RALLY

Cairo, 8 Dhulqo’dah 1435/3 September 2014 (MINA) – Egypt’s police on Monday said it arrested four April 6 members who were organising a stand to commemorate their deceased colleague Ahmed El-Masry, Al-Ahram’s Arabic website reported.

A statement on the group’s Facebook page says around 30 of their members have been arrested, including leading members Mohamed Kamal and Ramy El-Sayed, Ahram quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The police dispersed the stand in Cairo’s Boulaq El-Dakrour district, where El-Masry’s family resides, as the group did not have a pre-approved request to organise their demonstration.

El-Masry was shot dead exactly one year ago while covering the police’s dispersal of a Muslim Brotherhood protest in Giza’s Mohandiseen.

The arresting came as a protest law adopted in Egypt since the ousted of Morsi  in July 2012.  The law, passed last November, mandates that protesters should apply for a protest request from the country’s interior minister before organising protests. Violators face hefty fines and prison sentences.

April 6 Youth Movement, once a celebrated revolutionary group after the 2011 uprising, is now criticised and accused of having ties with ousted Mohamed Morsi’s group, the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was dubbed a “terrorist organization” late last year by the interim government.

In May, an Egyptian court banned the April 6 movement, one of the youth groups that led the 2011 uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The ruling stemmed from a private lawsuit accusing the group of defaming the country and colluding with foreign parties.

April 6 had opposed Islamist president Morsi and supported his ouster last summer, but also spoke out against the interim authorities that replaced him, protesting their crackdown on dissent. The group has frequently  said the interim leaders of quashing freedoms and giving the police a free rein.(T/R04/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)