The Cairo Criminal Court released on Sunday the seven non-commissioned police officers who were involved in the formation of organisations to advocate for the rights of police officers.
The prosecution accused the police officers of inciting other officers to strike, organising illegal protests, and belonging to a group whose target is to impact the work of the Egyptian police.
The ”illegal groups” were the Coalition of Non-Commissioned Police Officers, the Club of Non-Commissioned Police Officers, and the Non-Commissioned Police Officers Union.
The police officers have been in prison for five months, despite the Ministry of Interior previously licensing the formation of these organisations.
Rights lawyer Mokhtar Mounir condemned their arrest in previous comments to Daily News Egypt, saying that their arrest is not legal and that they are not facing any charges which are punishable by law despite the situation being depicted as a violation of the Egyptian legal code.
The seven police officers were arrested on 5 March while they were entering the Media Production City to appear on a private TV channel with host Wael El-Ebrashy. El-Ebrahsy strongly condemned the arrest of the officers, saying it is a “crime” and an act not befitting the Ministry of Interior.
In the wake of the arrest, many non-commissioned police officers in the governorate of Sharqeya organised a protest on 6 March in front of the security directorate in solidarity with the arrested officers, demanding their immediate release.
