The South Giza Court ordered on Tuesday a renewal for the detention of political activists Zizo Abdo, Haitham Mohamedain, and Hamdy Qeshta for an additional 15 days pending investigations, according to Mokhtar Mounier, a lawyer at the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.
The three activists were arrested on accusations of unlicensed protesting, spreading false news, and belonging to an outlawed group.
Abdo was arrested on 5 May with lawyer Malek Adly, Qeshta was arrested from a protest against the transfer of the sovereignty of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia in the Boluq Al-Dakror district on 25 April, and leftist lawyer Mohamedain was arrested on 21 April during nationwide security raids that took place prior to the 25 April demonstration.
On Tuesday, George Ishak, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, submitted a memorandum demanding the Interior Ministry prisons department apply regulations to improve conditions for pre-trial detainees.
The memo came in response to several complaints published regarding the poor conditions of detainees.
Ishak protested that proper regulations are not applied to all prisoners, referring to detainees who are suffering as they’re prevented from medical treatment and proper living conditions, despite the fact that these rights should be granted to them.
The poor conditions in prisons for detainees are among the top rights violations in Egypt. Inside prisons, detainees are suffering in unhygienic cells and are prevented from receiving proper medical treatment, clean food and water, and warm clothes and blankets in winter.
The 25 April protests were followed by mass arrests of demonstrators and activists as well as arbitrary arrests of bystanders on the street and in coffee shops. Some people were arrested from their homes in a wide-spread security sweep in advance of the protests.
