Activist allegedly detained by authorities in attempt to stop protest march
CAIRO: A group of around 40 people chanting the slogan, No money for trash that is not taken away from our houses, marched from Giza Square to the governorate building to protest the governor’s decree to add garbage collection fees to electricity bills.
Why I am paying LE 15 per month for trash that is taken out of my house? All the Giza governorate is doing is pocketing the money they add to my electricity bill, an outraged woman from Giza said to a circle of journalists at the protest.
However, while garbage fees were the official issue at the demonstration, most participants seemed far more concerned with the whereabouts of their protest organizer, Mohamed Al-Ashqar, who mysteriously disappeared on Sunday night following a visit to Qasr El-Nil police station.
According to lawyer Rawda Ahmed, Al-Ashqar who is a Kefaya activist and the head of the Popular Committee for the Protection of the Consumer from Corruption in Giza, was detained by police authorities on Sunday in an attempt to keep him from organizing Monday s protest.
Mohamed was last seen on Sunday night at Qasr El-Nil police station where he went to inquire about his car, which had been confiscated by authorities two days earlier. No one has heard from Mohamed since he went to the police station and we are sure that he is being detained for his activism, Ahmed explained in an interview with The Daily Star Egypt.
Al-Ashqar s car was allegedly confiscated due to the fact that the authorities found stacks of publications, Kefaya stickers, and flyers in the car about Monday s garbage protest, which Al-Ashqar was organizing.
According to Ahmed, state security took Al-Ashqar s car and charged him with attempt to disturb the public order.
Al-Ashqar s sister, Samiya, attended today s garbage march despite the alleged detainment of her brother.
I am very worried. My brother was detained because he leads the Popular Committee for the Protection of the Consumer from Corruption and because he organized this protest and is a known activist. No one knows where he is, she says when asked about her brother s whereabouts.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, in conjunction with a number of other Egyptian organizations, is reportedly planning to file a claim concerning the disappearance of Al-Ashqar at the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
Unless we are informed about his whereabouts soon, we will take immediate legal action, Ahmed stresses.
At press time, Qasr El-Nil police station had not responded to queries from The Daily Star Egypt.
