20 organizers of Egypt’s Alexandria march released on bail

CAIRO - 26 April 2020: The Egyptian Prosecution office in Alexandria released 20 people on a LE 500 bail each after being interrogated for staging a march to celebrate the advent of the holy month of Ramadan during the night-time curfew.

Four days ago, the Interior Ministry arrested the organizers of the march that started before the night-time curfew and toured the streets of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria with a large number of participants.

They were arrested after a video footage went viral on social media showing dozens of people carrying a model of the Kaaba and touring the streets on Thursday evening, to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar when Muslims worldwide fast from dusk to dawn, and doubting the existence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

#Alexandria has been created on Twitter where the users denounced this action, amid the precautionary measures taken by the government to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

As yet, the COVID-19 cases in Egypt reached 4,319 and the mortality rate rose to 307 deaths. The number of coronavirus cases whose tests turned from positive to negative increased to 1,450, including 1,114 people who recovered from the virus.

Since mid-March, Egypt has taken certain strict measures to protect the public from the spread of coronavirus pandemic. The government has taken gradual steps in dealing with the coronavirus spread, starting with suspending schools and universities, and international flights.

Furthermore, a night-time curfew has been imposed since March 24, 2020. Additionally, the Ministry of Awqaf [Endowment] extended the closure of the mosques and the places of worship nationwide until further notice.