Taher Mokhtar, a member of the Doctors Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee, saw his detention extended for another 45 days on Sunday, along with two detained flatmates, according to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.
Mokhtar, along with students Ahmed Hassan and Hossam El-Din Hamad, were arrested from their apartment on 14 January during security raids that were conducted ahead of the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution.
Their detention has been renewed since January without trial, in spite of numerous calls by human rights organisations for their release. The National Security apparatus accused the trio of possessing “seditionary” pamphlets.
The documents allegedly addressed the issue of poor health conditions in detention facilities. Having worked with vulnerable social groups, such as refugees and prisoners, Mokhtar was officially assigned by the syndicate to handle the file related to the health standards of prisoners and detainees in Egypt, according to the Doctors Syndicate.
“The detainees are accused of possessing documents which call for protesting and overthrowing the regime, but all they had were their electronic devices, and Mokhtar’s paper related to the health situation of prisoners,” the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said Sunday.
