Leader of April 6 youth group detained in Tora prison

Monday 05-10-2015 11:18 PM
Leader of April 6 youth group detained in Tora prison
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CAIRO, Oct 4 (Aswat Masriya) - Leader of the April 6 Youth Movement, Amr Ali who was arrested from his home in Menoufia last month, has been detained for 15 days pending investigation, the group said. 

Mohamed al-Nagar, who manages the group's human resources in Menoufia province north of Cairo, told Aswat Masriya that Ali is currently in Tora prison.

Sayed Elbana, the head of the legal committee managing Ali's case told Aswat Masriya the committee is considering appealing the decision to extend Ali's detention and will have decided what action it will take by Wednesday.

Bana saw Ali today when he stood before prosecutors. He is "well" and was not "harmed," Bana said.

All of the charges that Ali faces are related to "terrorism", Bana said. "They are the same charges that are fabricated in any case and they have no legal value," Bana said.

Ali has been investigated without the presence of a lawyer, Bana said, adding that this constitutes a violation of the constitution.

For several days after he was arrested on Sept. 22, there was no official acknowledgement of his arrest and the group had feared that Ali, 32, was the subject of a "forced disappearance."  

Ali's whereabouts were revealed by "coincidence" when an inmate in Tora prison told his family during a visit that he saw Ali inside prison, Nagar said. 

On the day of Ali's arrest, the movement denounced the arrest and "demanded his immediate release." 

Ali's arrest has been condemned by the liberal-leaning al-Dostour party and the Strong Egypt party, headed by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. 

The April 6 Youth Movement was created on Facebook seven years ago in solidarity with a planned textile workers' strike in the industrial city of Mahallah in the Nile Delta. The strike, which was infiltrated by plainclothes policemen who intimidated the workers, never took place.

The group was one of the leading forces speaking out against the Mubarak regime in January 2011. 

Ahmed Maher, the first general coordinator of the movement, was sentenced to three years in prison for violating the protest law in December 2013. 

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