A human rights organization monitored detention of an engineer since September for joining a Facebook group calling for climate demonstrations during the conference
With COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh less than a month away, Egyptian Front for Human Rights reported that a man has been detained since September for joining a Facebook group calling for climate demonstrations during the conference.
National Security Agency officers arrested 55-year-old Abdel Salam Abdel Ghani Abdel Salam on September 25 and questioned him over his relation to the Facebook group, which calls for “climate revolution” protests on November 11.
Abdel Salam was forcibly disappeared in the agency’s headquarters for more than two weeks until he finally appeared before prosecutors on October 10.
Abd al-Salam was arrested on 25th September 2022 from his home by National Security Agency forces, then took him to the National Security headquarters in the Sixth of October region, where he was interrogated about his relationship with a Facebook group called “Our Right”, which calls for demonstrations on 11th November, 2022 under the title “Climate Revolution”, in the same period of holding COP27 in Egypt.
Then was asked about its relationship to the publications on this group and its members and was kept in the National Security headquarters until he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution for interrogation.
Meanwhile, prosecutors and the courts have also extended the detentions of a wave of political prisoners over the past few days.
They include at least four journalists, namely Mohamed Fawzy (arrested in May for Facebook posts criticizing the launch of the national dialogue), Tawfiq Ghanem (behind bars for 17 months for his media work), and Hala Fahmy and Safaa al-Korbagy (both detained since April over their support for protesting state media workers).
Also the detention was renewed for activist Sherif al-Rouby, who was re-arrested in September, just three months after his latest release.
Al-Rouby was thrown in prison again after speaking out about the challenges and security measures political prisoners continue to face after release. Meanwhile, those same problems persist: Labor activist and former Hope Coalition detainee Hassan Barbary was prevented from granting power of attorney to a lawyer this week because of an asset freeze.
Another former detainee, activist and human rights lawyer Mahienour El-Masry, was stopped from traveling to Italy to collect the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, becoming the latest member of civil society to face an arbitrary travel ban.
