Egyptian activist Sanaa Seif detained, family decries 'abduction'
Relatives say sister of jailed blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah forced into van outside general prosecutor's office in Cairo.Sanaa Seif is the sister of imprisoned blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah who is held in Cairo's Tora prison complex [File: Khaled Desouki/AFP]
23 June 2020
Authorities in Egypt have detained prominent activist Sanaa Seif as part of an ongoing crackdown on dissidents, according to her relatives and lawyer.
The 26-year-old, a sister of well-known blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, was forced into a minivan outside the general prosecutor's office in the capital, Cairo, on Tuesday.
Seif and family members were there to file an official complaint about being physically assaulted outside Cairo's Tora prison complex the previous day.
Seif's lawyer and relatives later said she had been referred to prosecutors for investigation.
Authorities "refused to let us see her and we do not know where she will be jailed," Mona Seif said on Twitter.
There was no immediate comment by Egyptian authorities.
Using the term "arrested" implies a legality to the process
Sanaa Seif was not "arrested", Sanaa was ABDUCTED, and her abduction was facilitated by the official guards of the general prosecutors office.
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"We have been beaten up, dragged by the hair, clothes torn infront of Tora by women thugs on the watch of all police there," Mona wrote on Twitter on Monday.
She added that they had also been robbed of their personal identity cards and money, as well as some other belongings.
We have been beaten up, dragged by the hair, clothes torn infront of Tora by women thugs on the watch of all police there
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Rights groups and activists had repeatedly called for the government to release prisoners amid the outbreak, but to no avail.
Rights groups have repeatedly criticised Egyptian prisons for overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
Human Rights Watch said in March an epidemiological "disaster" could be spared if authorities granted prisoners conditional release.
Abdel Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 uprisings that swept the region and in Egypt toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
He was previously released in March last year, after serving five years in prison for taking part in a peaceful protest.
Rights activists say el-Sisi has overseen an unprecedented crackdown on freedoms in Egypt since taking power in 2013 and then taking office in 2014. The Egyptian president and his backers say the measures are needed to keep the country stable and counter threats from armed groups.
Egypt banned all unauthorised protests in 2013, months after el-Sisi led the military's removal of the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, following mass protests.
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