Egyptian court orders probe of leading rights group

An Egyptian judge has ordered an investigation into a leading human rights group in Egypt, days after its director spoke before a committee of the European Parliament.

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies says on its website on Wednesday that investigators from the Ministry of Social Solidarity visited its offices Tuesday to look into the legality of its activities. It says the investigators did not give them a warrant.

The institute says the move is in retaliation for the May 28 speech its director, Bahey Eldin Hassan, gave to the Human Rights Committee of the European Parliament.

Rights groups and activists alleged widespread abuses since the ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013, and say torture is being used to punish detainees or extract confessions.

— AP