CAIRO: The April 6 Youth Movement filed a complaint Wednesday to the Prosecutor General and the Attorney General in Sharqeya governorate concerning the alleged kidnapping of three of the movement’s members during a protest on Monday.
General coordinator of the movement Ahmed Maher told Daily News Egypt that the detainees are being held in custody “illegally.
“Three of them – Ahmed Alaa, Islam El Hakeem and Mustafa Magdy – are members of the movement, while the fourth was just joining the protest, said Maher.
He added that the detainees have already appeared before the Zagazig prosecutor in Sharqeya.
The Monday 50-strong protest was against the alleged mistreatment of a young woman who was detained for a whole day after Eid Al-Adha prayers in Zagazig for possessing Palestine-related leaflets and material.
According to a statement published on the April 6 Youth Movement website, the previous Friday saw blogger and coordinator of “The Anti-inheritance Youth Movement Karim El-Sha’er stranded in the desert of the fifth district of New Cairo following a harsh beating allegedly by security forces.
Maher says that despite the setbacks, the group plans to work on raising awareness of political rights and motivating the public to register to vote in the upcoming legislative elections in 2010, to lobby for allowing international monitors to supervise the elections, as well as to campaign for outgoing former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to run for president in 2011.
The April 6 Youth Movement emerged in April 2008, when a Facebook group called for a day of civil disobedience in protest against rising food prices and general dire economic conditions.
The ad hoc protest centered in the Delta city of Mahallah triggered clashes between the public and riot police, during which two people were killed including a teenager who was shot as he stood in his balcony.
