Mohammed Al Baali
Albawaba.com-Cairo
Several Egyptian lawmakers and political leaders have told the prosecutor general that they worked with the leader of the Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada, Farid Zahran, who has been arrested on charges of calling for demonstrations against Israel.
The move has come as part of their campaign to obtain the release of Zahran, who has been detained since last Thursday.
A group of lawyers headed Tuesday to the office of the prosecutor general in Cairo to hand him a memo, a copy of which was obtained by Albwaba.com.
The memo states that “since Zahran was detained on charges of participating in the popular committee's activities for solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada, and because we all participated in the same activities…we have decided to confess to you that we were partners of Zahran in the [crimes] he is accused of.”
The list of signatories include MPs, political party leaders, press association members, a Muslim Brotherhood member and artist Muhsenah Tawfiq.
Meanwhile, the popular committee itself held a press conference Tuesday, in which it said that Zahran had been detained for threatening the country’s stability.
The committee issued a statement, a copy of which was received by Albawaba.com, vowing that it would "do its best in order to have Zahran released from his detention and protect him against all forms of oppression."
The committee also announced that it would not halt its democratic activities in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their Intifada against 34 years of Israeli military occupation, "particularly in view of its first anniversary which will take place within a few days.”
Furthermore, five Egyptian human rights organizations issued a joint statement, a copy of which was obtained by Albawaba.com, calling on the ministers of justice and interior to intervene without delay in order to obtain the release of Zahran, and carry out the necessary investigations regarding the "oppression" he has been subjected to.
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