Egypt arrests lawyer opposed to giving two islands to Saudis

Malek Adly is part of group that filed a lawsuit against Cairo for handing over territories in Red Sea

CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Egyptian rights lawyer who had raised a legal suit against the president’s decision to hand two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia was arrested early on Friday and ordered held in custody for 15 days, pending investigation into a list of allegations, including attempts to overthrow the government.

Malek Adly’s detention came amid a wave of arrests in Egypt as security forces put down protests against President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi decision on the islands. Adly, a member of the April 6 youth movement that was part of the uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, has appeared on TV talk shows, speaking out against the islands’ handover. He was also among a group of lawyers who filed a lawsuit over the case of the islands.

Two others from the group were also arrested. They were detained in a police raid of the Journalists’ Syndicate on Sunday, which sparked protests by hundreds of journalists who called for Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar’s dismissal and a presidential apology.

Both el-Sissi and Abdel-Ghaffar have ignored the demands. The interior minister on Thursday attended the inauguration of a mega project for land reclamation hailed by el-Sissi as one of his “unprecedented” achievements. In his half-an-hour speech at the event, el-Sissi repeated several times, “I am not afraid” – a statement observers believe was meant for his critics.

The Red Sea islands of Tiran, in the foreground, and Sanafir, in the background, sit at the the Strait of Tiran between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images, via JTA) — The Red Sea islands of Tiran, in the foreground, and Sanafir, in the background, sit at the Strait of Tiran between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia (AFP/Getty Images via JTA)

Later on Friday, another well-known Egyptian rights advocate and lawyer, Ragia Omran, was briefly held at the Cairo International Airport upon her arrival from Jordan, where she attended a UN conference.

Omran told The Associated Press in series of text messages that her passport had been confiscated and her bags searched by security agents. She said that a UN report she had with her about justice systems in the Arab world was also taken from her. Omran is a member of the National Council for Human Rights, and has been one of the main defenders of imprisoned political activists.

After three hours, she was released, according to a lawyer Mohammed Abdel-Aziz.

The Interior Ministry spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking comment. Airport security officials said that Omran was stopped at the airport over allegations linking her to “incitement” against the state, undermining state security and safety and that she was being interrogated. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations, added that her name has been on an airport stop-list.

El-Sissi, Egypt’s army chief-turned-president, has orchestrated one of largest ever crackdowns on dissidents in the country, following the military’s ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

A draconian anti-protest law issued months later led to mass arrests of thousands of protesters, mostly Morsi’s supporters or pro-democracy advocates. The law and heavy-handed security measures have stifled street demonstrations.

[mappress mapid=”5672″]

However, on April 15, nearly 2,000 protesters rallied to denounce the handover of the Tiran and Sanafir islands. The deal took many Egyptians by surprise, especially since it came during Saudi king’s visit to Egypt, during which several multi-billion dollar deals were struck.

El-Sissi and the government have defended the decision by saying the islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba were Saudi territory and that the kingdom asked Cairo in 1950 to protect them from Israel.