(Photo by Ahmed Almalky/DNE)
Members of the Free Egyptians Party and of the signature collections campaign Tamarod have claimed to receive several death threats.
The Free Egyptians Party spokesperson, Shehab Wageeh, said in a statement on Saturday he condemns the death threats that two of the party members, Samar Farag and Amir Sawiris, have received. Sawiris received an email with sectarian and racist death threats while Farag received a similar threat over social networking website Twitter, the party claimed.
Wageeh said these threats cannot be separated from the “polarised reality and sectarian tensions the regime is feeding”.
Tamarod cofounder in Alexandria, Sary Mohamed, said several campaign members have been receiving threats. “One member was ambushed and beaten. They tore up the campaign applications he had with him,” Mohamed said. For nearly a week since the assault, the campaign member has been receiving threats.
“He feels that he is being followed,” Mohamed said, explaining that in one incident, the member was told to cross the street if he dared, which he did along with two other campaign members. Then he received another text telling him, that if he had crossed alone, he would have been kidnapped.
Another campaign member was hit with birdshot by a person on a motorcycle. “He was with a group, but the person on the motorcycle targeted him,” Mohamed said. He alleges that the attack is related to a lawsuit the member filed against Muslim Brotherhood figures. The member claims to have papers that implicate some Islamist figures in corruption, Mohamed said.
He says campaign members are repeatedly insulted and violations against the campaign are very common.
Mohamed said he will get together with a volunteer lawyer in the campaign and decide how they will proceed regarding these continued threats.
Tamarod, or “Rebellion”, is a petition campaign that was launched in late April to gather signatures to withdraw confidence from President Mohamed Morsi. Campaign members have repeatedly faced detention while distributing campaign applications. The campaign has also been accused of attempting to “overthrow the regime”.
