(Photo courtesy of Free Mahienour)
Taher Mukhtar, a Revolutionary Socialist and member of the Doctors’ Syndicate, filed a complaint against Head of Alexandria’s Police Investigation Unit General Nasser El-Abd Saturday morning.
Mukhtar and two others were assaulted during their arrest by security forces who raided the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) headquarters last Thursday, and filed a complaint against El-Abd, holding him accountable for their assault and the sexual assault of a group of females who were also arrested during the same incident.
Mukhtar, along with 14 others, were released on the same day from the Alexandria Security Directorate.
Last Thursday, the Egyptian Initiative of Personal Rights (ECESR) branch in Alexandria was raided after a press conference which was held in solidarity with labour activist and lawyer Mahienour El-Massry ended. A small protest was held outside the centre after the conference, where demonstrators chanted against the Protest Law.
Regional Director of ECESR Ahmed El-Shazli, who was among the conference attendees, said that it was also attended by workers and youth whom El-Massry had helped, along with her lawyers and renowned labour lawyers Khalid Ali and Haitham Mohamedein.
El-Shazli stated: “The protest was very small and ended 10 minutes” after it began. He added that security forces assaulted the groups standing in front of the centre, arresting 15, raided the centre and stole a number of documents and a laptop.
El-Massry’s appeal was denied last Tuesday and she was sentenced with eight other activists to two years in prison and an EGP 50,000 fine for breaking the Protest Law. According to the prosecution, she organised a protest without a permit outside the trial of the policemen charged with the death of Khalid Said in December 2013.
The raid was condemned by 18 human rights organisations, including international and Egyptian organisations who expressed “deep concerns” regarding the sexual assault of the arrested females.
The organisations also noted that the attack is “an expected escalation amidst the growing incitement in the media and defamation campaigns, which have been targeting human rights organisations and human rights defenders in Egypt”.
The European Union delegation in Cairo has expressed its concern over the sentence of activist Mahienour El-Massry. In a statement on issued Thursday, the delegation said: “We wish a solution will soon be found leading to her release and that of other activists sentenced or on trial on similar grounds.”
The raid on the ECESR branch in Alexandria is the second in six months; the organisation’s headquarters was raided by security forces last December.
