Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat issued an order on Wednesday for the release of 116 students and minors arrested for illegal assembly.
Details surrounding the student and minors’ arrests and the time of their release have yet to be confirmed by official sources.
Their release comes as a measure to preserve their futures and education opportunities, Barakat said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the Fayoum Court released 10 detainees and referred one to the Juvenile Court, said a Tuesday statement issued by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression. The detainees had been arrested during a protest for the Dank Movement on 9 September and were charged with protesting without a permit, shouting slogans against the army and police, and blocking roads.
Since the Protest Law was issued, a number of students and activists have been detained on charges of violating the controversial law and illegal assembly.
The law was issued by Hazem El-Beblawi’s cabinet last November to “regulate” protests, requiring permission from the Ministry of Interior to organise demonstrations. It was then retracted for public discussion and subsequently approved in late November 2013 by former interim president Adly Mansour.
The legislation includes restrictions on protests, marches and public meetings and requires a three-day notice for protests. It allows the Minister of Interior to move or change the route of assemblies or cancel them.
Articles in the Protest Law also allow security forces to use water cannons, batons and teargas to disperse protesters, as well as “escalatory measures”, including the use of rubber bullets and metal pellets.
