Al Jazeera and News agencies :
Amnesty International has urged the Egyptian authorities to release hundreds of people it said were arrested during anti-government protests last month.
“Egyptian security forces have used tear gas, batons, birdshot and on at least one occasion live ammunition, and arrested hundreds of protesters and bystanders to disperse rare scattered demonstrations over several days,” Amnesty said in a statement on Friday.
“We call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director, said in the statement.
At least 496 individuals are currently imprisoned as a result of the crackdown, according to the London-based rights watchdog.
Egyptians took to the streets in several villages across the country from mid-September, according to videos shared widely on social media, especially by sympathisers of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
The small-scale but rare demonstrations have come amid mounting anger, particularly in rural and low-income areas, against sweeping government campaigns to stop illegal construction, which have required people to pay fines to legalise home ownership.
Exiled businessman Mohamed Ali, who has urged protests against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since last year, has also intensified his calls in recent weeks in online videos, calling on Egyptians to take to the streets against the government.
“The fact that these protesters took to the streets while knowing the very high risk to their lives and safety … shows how desperate they were to demand their economic and social rights,” Luther said.
Amnesty International has urged the Egyptian authorities to release hundreds of people it said were arrested during anti-government protests last month.
“Egyptian security forces have used tear gas, batons, birdshot and on at least one occasion live ammunition, and arrested hundreds of protesters and bystanders to disperse rare scattered demonstrations over several days,” Amnesty said in a statement on Friday.
“We call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director, said in the statement.
At least 496 individuals are currently imprisoned as a result of the crackdown, according to the London-based rights watchdog.
Egyptians took to the streets in several villages across the country from mid-September, according to videos shared widely on social media, especially by sympathisers of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
The small-scale but rare demonstrations have come amid mounting anger, particularly in rural and low-income areas, against sweeping government campaigns to stop illegal construction, which have required people to pay fines to legalise home ownership.
Exiled businessman Mohamed Ali, who has urged protests against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since last year, has also intensified his calls in recent weeks in online videos, calling on Egyptians to take to the streets against the government.
“The fact that these protesters took to the streets while knowing the very high risk to their lives and safety … shows how desperate they were to demand their economic and social rights,” Luther said.
