CAIRO: Bedouin activist Mussad Abu Fagr was released from detention Tuesday after almost three years behind bars under the emergency law despite around 20 court rulings ordering his release.
In an attempt to placate Bedouin anger, the state has begun releasing detainees held under the emergency law. Around 70 have been released so far but Bedouin activists had noted that political prisoners were not amongst them until Abu Fagr’s release.
Abu Fagr was released along with two other Bedouins, Ibrahim Al-Arjani and Isa El-Menei. On Monday, 16 Bedouins being held under the emergency law were also released.
Another detained activist, Yehia Abu Nusseirah, is expected to be released in the next few days.
Abu Fagr, founder of the Bedna Ne’ish (We Want To Live) blog, was arrested in 2007 for driving a car without a license, possessing a firearm without a license and provoking unrest. He was an organizer of many Bedouin protests that took place at the time.
During the 31 months he spent in Borg El-Arab Prison near Alexandria, the court issued 20 release orders on Abu Fagr’s behalf, but he remained in detention under the emergency law. His wife campaigned for his release, often travelling to Cairo to speak about his continued detention.
“It looks like the beginning of acts of good intentions by the state but I hope it’s not just an empty gesture and the state tries to solve the deep-rooted problems in Sinai,” North Sinai Tagammu member Khalil Jabr Sawarkeh told Daily News Egypt about Abu Fagr’s release.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, which had long campaigned for his release, said on its website that it took “great pleasure at the release of the detained blogger who suffered imprisonment with no crime for years.”
Relations between the state and Sinai’s Bedouins have recently escalated, with Bedouins angered by the severity of security crackdowns on their communities. The state claims that it is searching for those wanted for various crimes and hiding within their communities.
However, due to recent attempts to placate the Bedouins, the Ministry of Interior began releasing prisoners detained under the emergency law, some since 2002.
Shootouts had erupted last month between the two sides after security raids on the town of Wadi Amr and surrounding areas in Central Sinai in search of wanted Bedouins. The raids angered some residents, who then locked down the road leading to Al-Oja crossing.
Interior Minister Habib El-Adli met with Bedouin representatives earlier this month in a bid to calm tensions. However, further protests erupted in Central Sinai immediately after the meeting because Bedouins believe that their grievances not being addressed.
