CAIRO: The wives and mothers of over 100 detained fishermen protested amid heavy security presence in front of Parliament Sunday, demanding their release.
Despite court orders for their release, the fishermen’s detention period was renewed on charges of assisting illegal immigration operations, by using their boats to transport illegal immigrants through Egyptian ports.
In the cordoned off street, protestors held up banners calling on President Hosni Mubarak to intervene. They also chanted slogans and sent a memo to People’s Assembly Speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour calling for the detainees’ release.
According to Aziza Mahmoud, 25, her husband Hassan Shaaban was taken from his home in Kafr El-Sheikh last February and stood trial for transporting illegal immigrants to international waters.
Although a court order cleared him of his charges, his detention was renewed in Borg Al-Arab Prison in Alexandria under the emergency law.
