January 16th, 2010 by Tuqa

The Egyptian bloggers and activists who were arrested in Nag Hammadi yesterday have been released, according to our sources on the ground in Cairo and those close to our conference representative Bassem Samir. Bikya Masr is also reporting on their release, in addition to several activists on the Twittersphere who we have been following for continuous updates.

Wael Abbas, one of those detained in the group, updated his Twitter feed several hours ago saying they have been released but still waiting in the Qena district office. He added, “ [I] slept one of my worst nights ever.” 

Minutes ago, activist Ramy Raoof updated his Twitter feed saying the group is en route to Cairo and expected to arrive after midnight.

In addition, El Nadeem Center for the Psychological Rehabilitation of Victims of  Violence and Torture has just updated their Facebook page with a press release from several Egyptian NGOs which have provided legal assistance to the detainees. The press release comes from the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, and several other prominent legal and civic organizations. The press release announces the release of all the activists who are being transported in three separate vans, one heading to Cairo and another heading to the town of Sohag where some of the activists live. Three of those detained were released in Qena, the province housing the town of Nag Hammadi, where they reside. The release adds that the three detainees released in Qena have been asked to report to state security Sunday morning at 10AM.

We will continue to update our blog and Twitter feed as we receive new information.

Posted in Egypt, Human Rights, Protests, Sectarianism |