Prosecution authorities in Giza ordered a 45-day detention for Emad Ramadan, general manager of The Egyptian Democratic Institute (EDI) NGO on Tuesday, pending investigations into charges of unlicensed firearms possession.
In a statement released by the EDI on Tuesday, Ramadan was released the night before upon claims of his involvement in a “sham legal case that has been closed for years”.
Ramadan Mostafa, a researcher in parliamentary affairs at the sEDI who witnessed the arrest of his manager, told Daily News Egypt on Wednesday that “security forces dressed in civilian clothes stormed the EDI’s office on Monday evening and arrested Ramadan after finding out he was the manager”.
Mostafa further expressed his astonishment at “such measures” undertaken by the state. “We were working late in the office on our new project, under Ramadan’s supervision, when we heard hysterical knocks on the doors,” Mostafa accounted.
According to him, eight men entered the office and started shouting at employees, demanding their national IDs, and asking the reason of their presence at the office.
“Then they went straight to Ramadan’s office and took him after he told them he was the manager of the EDI,” Mostafa said and that he was unsure of whether they had specifically come for Ramadan or whether they arrested him only upon learning he was the manager.
“We tried following them but they violently pushed us back inside and shut the doors,” Mostafa said. “We could not catch up and did not even see the car that took him away.”
The following morning on Tuesday, Mostafa tried to locate Ramadan’s detention centre and went to Haram police station but could not find him. “I found him in the Omraneya police station but security forbade us from seeing him,” he said.
Ramadan was later transferred to Boulaq Al-Dakrour police station from where he was referred to Giza prosecution authorities. Ramadan, a father of three, has encountered problems in receiving family and lawyer visits in prison. “But we managed to speak to him and he said all of that was fabricated with the collaboration of some thugs,” Mostafa said.
It is unclear to whom or which entity those “thugs” are affiliated, even for the EDI staff themselves, but Mostafa claimed that they have been onto Ramadan for a while. “To the extent that they have tried kidnapping him several times, which eventually made him change his home address,” he said.
The EDI’s statement also pointed out “previous threats” and pressure on Ramadan. “This often happened since he would receive phone calls ordering him to stop his activities,” Mostafa said.
According to current available information by the EDI, Ramadan was formerly accused of illegal possession of a firearm and its use in the shooting of one person in the chaotic events that followed the 25 January Revolution in 2011.
The EDI was among many NGOs in Egypt that faced severe state crackdown following January 2011 amid a raid on organisations funded by foreign sources. According to Mosatafa, the EDI survived the incident by proving to authorities the legitimacy of its work and its compliance with local laws and regulations.
When Ramadan was accused in the 2011 case, he was actually in Sharm El-Sheikh and presented his alibi and evidence to prosecution authorities, upon which his name was removed from the case.
“The National Security Apparatus constantly targeted Ramadan by sending thugs to him. But he thought it was a joke that the regime could be after him for his participation in the 25 January Revolution,” read a testimony published on the Facebook account of EDI’s former manager Ramy Al-Masry, who is currently based in the US.
The EDI has been operating in Egypt since 2006. “Recently we have worked on monitoring the performance of the new parliament. We also hold seminars and invite speakers to discuss different issued laws,” Mostafa said.
Meanwhile, according to Al-Masry, Ramadan succeeded in 2006 in implementing a project to improve schools in poor areas such as in Omraneya, Hawamdeya, and Sohag. “The project was in coordination with the Ministry of Education,” Al-Masry said.
Ramadan’s supporters are currently seeking the assistance of prominent human rights lawyers, member of the state-affiliated National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) Hafez Abu Seada and senior partner of the independent United Group for Attorneys Negad El-Borei.
The EDI has further stated that it would hold prison authorities responsible for Ramadan’s physical safety. The NGO has handled several projects since its establishment mainly in parliamentary affairs but also in elections related to the presidency, students, and workers’ syndicates.
Most projects were funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), according to the EDI’s official website.
