The “Freedom for the Brave” movement, another local watchdog, had logged a list of 168 names late yesterday as activists continued to identify detainees.
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“Restoring Sinai and then Taba was a great manifestation of the integration of Egyptian military, diplomatic and legal capabilities”, the Egyptian president said.
The president’s decision earlier this month to cede control over the Red Sea islands of Sanafir and Tiran sparked widespread criticism.
Those protests ended after several hours, with opposition groups calling for another protest on April 25, an Egyptian national holiday commemorating the return of the Sinai Peninsula from Israel.
On April 24 the Interior Ministry announced that it would “confront with the utmost decisiveness and resolution any acts that could infringe public security”.
In addition to journalists, the authorities conducted apparently pre-emptive arrests of lawyers and human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said.
“Police have arrested young people from cafes in downtown Cairo, at metro stations, at random police checkpoints and from their homes”. Both the Public Prosecution and judges use prolonged pretrial detention as a punitive measure, trump up charges against demonstrators, and turn a blind eye to torture and killings by security forces. Security forces also arrested over 50 journalists and media workers, the organization added.
“This because of a cup of tea that costs one pound!” shouted one man, crouched over a large bloody spot belonging to the victim on the ground, in a video posted on Twitter.
“The minute we started gathering they attacked us and we fled”, said another protester from the impoverished and densely populated Cairo district of Nahya.
Security forces on Monday moved to prevent a repeat scenario, blocking roads in Cairo leading to a central meeting point and dispersing a march in the Dokki neighbourhood with tear gas, a witness said. The president described the planned demonstrations as an attempt to destabilize the state, while the interior minister threatened severe consequences for anyone crossing “red lines”.
16 leading human rights organisations issued a statement today condemning the brutal practices of the regime. Anyone detained for peacefully protesting should be released.
Egyptian security forces fired tear gas and arrested scores of people to disperse small protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday, deterring what activists had hoped would be large demonstrations, witnesses and security sources said. The vague and overly broad definition of “terrorist act” included in the law allows the authorities to suppress any form of peaceful dissent.
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Elsewhere at Mesaha square, a group of protesters estimated at 500 led by prominent pro-democracy activists managed to gather chanting the anti-al-Sis slogans. The Saudi king’s invite to address the Egyptian parliament is evidence of how close relations are between the two nations, despite differences over policies on Syria.
