The Abdeen and Qasr Al-Nil Prosecution Units have appealed the decision to release on bail 13 protestors arrested during the commemoration of the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes.
The court session to decide on the appeal is scheduled for Monday in the South Cairo Court.
According to the court’s original ruling on Sunday, the 13 protestors were set to be released on bail from the Abdeen and Qasr Al-Nil police stations. However, the prosecution appealed the decision the same day.
Sunday’s ruling ordered four protesters to be released from Abdeen police station on a bail of EGP 3,000. Nine other protestors were to be released on a bail of EGP 10,000 from the Qasr Al-Nil police station, according to Lawyer Ahmed Otham from the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).
The former group was arrested in front of the house of Gaber Salah – also known as Jika – a well-known activist killed in November 2012 on the first anniversary of the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes. The latter were arrested after security forces ambushed a protest that took place on the 6th of October Bridge above the Al-Gezira Youth Club.
Charges include protesting, obstructing traffic and using publications that call for the “overthrow of the regime”.
Othman said the 13 protestors will not be released until the outcome of Monday’s session is known. Regardless of that outcome, the case against the protestors is still ongoing.
Dozens of activists gathered on Thursday to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes.
The activists chanted for the protestors who were killed in the 2011 clashes, and demanded the prosecution of security officials responsible for shooting protesters, as well as the immediate release of political prisoners and journalists.
On 18 and 19 November four years ago, hundreds of protesters demonstrated against the controversial constitutional principles of the El-Selmy document, which they claimed gave the military excessive powers over elected members of parliament and the constituent assembly responsible for drafting the new constitution.
Demonstrators chanted against military rule, embodied by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and its head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, which took power following the 25 January Revolution and Mubarak’s ouster.
During a time when the country was getting ready for the parliamentary elections, protests were confronted by police forces, resulting in clashes that led to more than 1,000 wounded and at least 40 people dead.
The controversial protest law currently in place was issued by interim president Adly Mansour. Since its enactment in November 2013, the law has been heavily criticised by human rights groups for violating the constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression.
The constitutionality of the law is currently being contested in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court.
