Authorities released Sunday Karam Zakareya, a 6 April Youth Movement member who was arrested from his house on 23 December, accused of “liking” a Facebook page, according to the movement.
When asked about the details of the charges, defence lawyer and member of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) Malek Adly told Daily News Egypt that the lawsuit description was “calls for protests”.
“There is no such thing in the law,” Adly explained. “My client is really accused of liking a Facebook page, that’s it.”
The page in question, entitled the Green Wave, is a Facebook community with over 24,000 members. It was set up a few months ago, and was posting ‘revolutionary’ statements against the current government.
Reporting on the page last October, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said it had attracted a significant number of Facebook users in a short time span. The newspaper added it was unclear who owned the page, but denied that it was linked to 6 April members in interviews.
“Zakareya is pending trial. We are hoping he will be declared innocent in his next court hearing for the verdict announcement, scheduled for 8 February,” Adly added.
Meanwhile, the April 6 Movement and other activists had launched another Facebook page to support Zakareya, saying he became a political detainee for pressing the like button on a Facebook page just like thousands of other users.
