The Popular Socialist Alliance Party released a statement Monday condemning the ongoing detention of two of its members, Ahmed Abu Zeid and Nesmah Yousuf, calling for their immediate release.
The statement condemns post-30 June policies against protesters and revolutionaries, noting the strong arm of the interior ministry, which “has expanded in its excesses” to “ambushing ordinary citizens”.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, according to the statement, was working with residents of Medinat Al-Salam. Abu Zeid “established a cooperative to develop the conditions of [Medinat Al-Salam’s] population, and began organising literacy classes for the people of the region”.
The statement claims that Abu Zeid was arrested because it is “the goal of the police stop the literacy of citizens” which makes them “ready to work as guides and thugs under the request of corrupt officers”.
Nesmah Yousef was arrested while protesting Abu Zeid’s detention.
“We do not accept the assault on the personal freedoms of citizens and fabrication of charges [against] honest [citizens] and the liquidation of the youth revolution,” the statement concludes.
Noted in the statement was the arrest of prominent activists Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Ahmed Douma, and Ahmed Maher. Abdel-Fattah, still on trial for breaking the Protest Law, was recently detained for 115 days before he was released on bail.
Douma and Maher are serving three year sentences for breaking the Protest Law as well. Their appeal was recently turned down.
Abdel-Fattah, in an interview after his recent release from prison, echoed the same concerns about post-30 June Egypt that the Popular Socialist Alliance noted in their statement.
Abdel-Fattah called the protests that ousted former president Mohamed Morsi in June and July of 2013 “a crazy time”.
“The state was basically mobilising people to go out,” he said. “And so, any protest that you did was joined by tens of thousands who were out there practically because the state told them to be out there.”
Also noted in the statement was the death of man who was shot dead at an Imbaba police station while trying to post bail for a detained friend. State-run MENA, quoting a security source, reported that the man was shot twice by a non-commissioned officer, killing him immediately. The reasoning behind the shooting was an alleged fight between the man and the non-commissioned officer.
The Popular Socialist Alliance party was formed after the 25 January Revolution, which ended the nearly 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. In November 2013, 304 members resigned from the party, citing a “diversion from its revolutionary purpose”. The party won 1.5% of the parliamentary seats in the 2012 elections.
