Egypt orders 15-day detention of Marzouk, 6 others

CAIRO – 24 August 2018: Egypt’s State Security Prosecution ordered the detention of opposition figure Maasoum Marzouk and six other opponents for 15 days in prison pending investigations over accusations of “complicity with a terrorist group aiming to undermine the state’s institutions” on Friday.

The accused people include Professor of Geology at Helwan University Yahia Al Qazzaz, economist Raed Salama, activist Nermeen Hussein, activist Amr Mohamed, Professor of Archeology Abdel Fattah Saeed El-Banna, and Sameh Saudi, the head of Elgarabeea Union (Union of Rabbles). The opponents were arrested on Thursday.

Early August, opposition figure Marzouk called for conducting a public referendum on the current regime’s stay in power. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s term will end and the Parliament will be dissolved if more than 50 percent of the electorate vote against the regime, according to Marzouk’s proposal.

Marzouk is an Egyptian diplomat, politician and author. He worked as an ambassador to Finland, Uganda and Estonia. Marzouk served as an assistant foreign minister for African issues. He was appointed as a CEO for the Egyptian Diplomatic Club in 2007. He was an official spokesman to the election campaign of the Egyptian Popular Current Chairman Hamdeen Sabahi, who was Sisi’s sole contender in the 2014 election.

In October, Al Qazzaz was fined LE 10,000 over charges of “insulting Sisi”, after he slammed Sisi on social media and accused him of “treason.”

Additional reporting by Amr Mohamed Kandil

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