Security authorities released political activist Islam Khalil from custody on Sunday, after detaining him for two days, his brother Nour Khalil reported.
Khalil’s arrest on Friday came less than two months after his release from prison on 31 August, when he was detained for 466 days.
The reason for his second arrest is believed to be related to testimony he gave to the state-funded National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), which the latter used to file a complaint to the prosecutor-general, lawyer Halim Heneish said on Sunday.
All questions during Khalil’s interrogation revolved around that subject, said Heneish, who further pointed out that Khalil was also pressured by National Security officers.
The problem seems to concern Khalil’s account of the conditions of his detention, in addition to his enforced disappearance. Khalil’s location remained unknown for over two months after he was first arrested in May 2015.
It was Mahmoud Hussein, a fellow former detainee, who witnessed and reported Khalil’s arrest. Hussein, who is also known as the “anti-torture T-shirt detainee”, gave details of the arrest over his Facebook account on Sunday.
“We were walking in the street, I was using a crutch and Islam was helping me walk,” Hussein wrote. Hussein has been suffering from a problem with one of his legs following his release from prison.
Hussein reported that on Friday at 4.30pm a police officer stopped them both on Talaat Harb Street near Tahrir Square. “Our IDs were checked. I was asked to leave while Islam was getting beaten and was informed they were going to take him,” Hussein wrote. In a post later that same day, Hussein said he did not know who “they” referred to.
Obscure groups have called for protests against the recent price hikes to take place on 11 November. In response, the Interior Ministry announced it would take necessary precautionary measures. Throughout this period of tension, some human rights lawyers have warned activists that they might be arrested from their homes.
