The Supreme State Security Prosecution in Egypt has decided to imprison an American woman of Egyptian origins, Reem Mohammad Al-Dessouki, for 15 days on charges of joining a banned group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to newspaper reports and activists on social media websites, Reem was arrested upon her arrival at Cairo International Airport on 7 July, coming from the United States with her son Mustafa, 12 years, in order to complete some of the procedures related to him.
The reports and activists accused the Egyptian authorities of involvement in hiding Reem forcibly for 7 days before finally appearing before the State Security Prosecution after being held with her son in a place at the airport that cannot be for humans for 18 hours, without taking into account the psychological state of her son.
According to Egyptian human rights activists, Reem and her son were detained at Cairo Airport from 5 am to 11 pm without any explanations. The authorities refused to allow any member of Reem’s family to meet her or to be reassured about her until the security authorities allowed letting the child go with a family member, and informing him about his mother’s prosecution before El-Nozha Prosecution on the following morning.
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The authorities attributed the charges directed against Reem for criticizing the Egyptian regime and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on her personal Facebook page.
On the other hand, the family of the accused woman informed the US embassy in Cairo to intervene to the authorities, demanding local and foreign human rights organisations to “move to defend her” and “promptly talk to Congress members and the US State Department to find out the real reasons behind her detention.”
Since the Army’s overthrow of the late Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected civilian president, on 3 July 2013, the Egyptian authorities have been accusing the Muslim Brotherhood and its members of “inciting violence and terrorism.” The government issued in December 2013 a resolution to consider the group as “terrorist”.
In contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood says its approach is “peaceful” in protest against the overthrow of Morsi.