CAIRO: The military prosecution summoned Tuesday for the second time activist Bahaa Saber for his alleged involvement in the Maspero violence last month.
Saber had refused to be interrogated by the military prosecution when he appeared before the prosecution last month. Unlike fellow activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who also refused the interrogation but was remanded in custody pending investigations, Saber was released without bail on the same day.
"I got a more formal summoning letter Tuesday at 9:30 am, while they were asking me to come Tuesday at 9:00 am. I decided I am not going; they can come and arrest me from home if they want," activist Bahaa Saber told Daily News Egypt Tuesday.
Both Saber and Abdel -Fattah both rejected the interrogation since they believe civilians should not be subjected to military trials. They also believe that the military prosecutor should not have taken over the Maspero investigation since the military is party to the crime it is probing.
Abdel-Fattah’s detention was renewed for 15 more days last Sunday.
Member of the No to Military Trials for Civilians campaign Shahira Abouellail told Daily News Egypt Tuesday that Ahmed Derrag, member of the National Association for Change, was summoned by the military prosecution but declined to submit to the interrogation for the same reasons which Saber and Abdel Fattah expressed.
"We vow to completely support Saber and Derrag if the military prosecution decides to arrest them from their homes," she said.
"We will be there in their homes to document the arrest order as kidnapping, since the military does not have the right to arrest civilians or interrogate them," she added.
Derrag is expected to publically announce his stance in a press conference organized by the No to Military Trials campaign Wednesday.
Derrag was not immediately available for comment.
Al-Ahram online quoted Monday the testimony of a witness alleging that he saw Abdel Fattah, Saber and prominent blogger Wael Abbas stealing weapons from a soldier during the Maspero violence.
Saber was summoned the following day.
Abbas slammed the alleged testimony, saying that he was not even in the country on Oct. 9 when the mostly Coptic protest near Maspero was crushed by the military leaving 27 dead and tens injured.
He said that he has not yet receive any official summons to appear before the military prosecution.
"I was in Tunis during the clashes," Abbas wrote on his Twitter account in response to the allegations.
"We also have witnesses who confirmed that Abdel Fattah was in Abdel Moniem Riyad Square, away from the clashes, helping the wounded," Abouellail said, adding that the prosecution can bring as many false testimonies as they want.
"But we reserve our right to be tried only in front of a civilian court so that we can present our evidence that all our colleagues are innocent," she added.
