The spokesperson of a pressure group that advocated allowing bearded officers to serve in the Egyptian Ministry of Interior have been referred, as well as other defendants, to the military court on charges of joining the militant group Lewaa El-Thawra.
Colonel Hani Al-Shakary is accused of joining a terrorist group and training militants in the governorate of Menoufia. He and others are accused of executing an attack on a police checkpoint in 2017, killing two policemen.
Al-Shakary was arrested in 2015 and released in 2017. According to the prosecution’s findings, he trained militants to use weapons
Militant insurgents have been predominantly targeting public, police, and army facilities, and have orchestrated several attacks in various cities around Egypt. But in the last two years, they have suffered severe blows by the security apparatuses.
In October 2016, militants allegedly belonging to the militant group Lewaa El-Thawra opened fire on army leader Adel Ragai, assassinating him in front of his residence in Al-Obour City.
Al-Shakary is part of the bearded officers group that defied current regulations and grooming standards at the Ministry of Interior, which forbid personnel from growing beards. In February 2017, during the reign of former President Mohamed Morsi, bearded officers received support from Islamist groups like the ultra-conservative Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya’s Building and Development Party, Al-Nour Party, and the Salafi Front.
In February 2013, dozens of bearded police officers continued in a sit-in at the Interior Ministry, demanding the ministry to implement the court’s ruling.
