CAIRO: Egyptian police arrested a leading secular activist wanted for trial during a raid on the office of a rights group in Cairo, the NGO said yesterday.
Police detained six people at the office during the raid on Wednesday night, but released all except activist Mohamed Adel hours later, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights said.
Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities to investigate allegations that the six staffers were “tortured or otherwise ill-treated in custody this morning”.
A statement by the watchdog also called on the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Adel and to ensure that non-governmental organisations can work unhindered in Egypt.
Adel, a prominent secular activist, is on trial with two other activists for violating a new protest law that restricts demonstrations.
He had been on the run and was being tried in absentia.
The Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, founded by former presidential candidate Khaled Ali, has supported striking factory workers and defended activists at trials.
Adel is being tried along with Ahmed Maher and Ahmed Douma, leaders of the April 6 movement that helped to topple strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The verdict in their trial, on charges of holding an unauthorised and violent protest in Cairo last month, is expected next week.
Their arrest and trial are seen by secular activists and rights groups as widening a government crackdown which had previously targeted only the Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi.
AFP
