Egypt renews detention of political activists pending investigation

An Egyptian state security prosecutor has renewed the detention of political activist Youssef Ali Abdel Rahman, known as “Joe the Legend”, as well as political activist Haitham Ahmed Abdel Aziz, known as “Haitham Dabour”, for another 15 days pending investigation.

Abdel Rahman is a former member of the 6 April movement, as well as the Black Bloc movement which emerged during the rule of the late President Mohamed Morsi. He is charged with joining the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned group, inciting violence and disseminating false news that harms state interests. He faces another nine cases with similar charges and has been detained since 2016, during which period he has been forcibly disappeared on more than one occasion.

Abdul Aziz was a member of the presidential campaign of former parliamentarian Ahmed Al-Tantawi. He has been detained for allegedly “disseminating false news, misusing social media tools, and joining a terrorist group”.

Egyptian security forces raided his home on 1 May, arrested him and took him to a National Security building as part of a campaign of arrests targeting citizens and activists supporting the Palestinian cause. He remained hidden for several days before appearing at the Supreme State Security Prosecution hearing.

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