On 19 November, EIPR reported that security forces had arrested Gasser Abdel-Razek from his home in Cairo and taken him to an unknown location. He later appeared and was interrogated at the State Security Prosecution, who ordered his pretrial detention for 15 days in case 855 pending investigations into the unfounded charges of “joining a terrorist group”, “disseminating false statements to undermine public security”, and “using the internet to publish false news”.
We believe that Karim Ennarah, Mohammed Basheer and Gasser Abdel-Razek are being targeted solely because of the legitimate work of EIPR, in order to intimidate EIPR staff members and the Egyptian human rights community at large and, therefore, their detention is arbitrary. We are also increasingly concerned about the ever-tightening space for organisations like EIPR and others who choose to carry out their work publicly in Egypt, and who are being punished for trying to uphold human rights and constitutional norms in the country. Continue
