Egypt arrests prominent cleric, say activists

Controversial rumours have been circulating on social media platforms by Egyptian activists, claiming that the Egyptian authorities arrested the country’s prominent cleric, Sheikh Mohamed Jebril, on Tuesday at the Cairo International Airport as he was returning from the United Kingdom (UK).

“The Cairo airport authorities arrested Sheikh Mohamed Jebril, the official Imam of Amr Ibn Al-Aas mosque, on Tuesday on his return from Britain,” the Egyptian journalist, Wael Kandil, said on Twitter.

سلطات مطار القاهرة ألقت القبض على الشيخ محمد جبريل إمام مسجد عمرو بن العاص لدي عودته من بريطانيا مساء أمس الثلاثاء ٣٠ أكتوبر.
الحرية للشيخ محمد جبريل.

— wael kandil (@waiel65) October 31, 2018

“Freedom for Sheikh Mohammed Jebril,” he demanded, referring to the state authorities.

However, Arabi21 quoted some other activists as saying that Jebril was released following “a less than 24-hour detention.”

Read: Egypt issues arrest warrants for forcibly disappeared lawyers

Some rights defenders believed Jebril’s arrest was because he had, several years after the country’s 2013 military coup, asked God during prayers to punish “tyrants,” referring to state officials. Later after the incident, he left the country for the UK.

In July 2013, the Egyptian incumbent president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, led a military coup, during which he overthrew the first freely-elected president Mohamed Morsi, who has been in ever since.