CAIRO, 23 May 2005 — Egyptian police detained one of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood’s top four leaders yesterday in the latest stage of a crackdown the Brotherhood linked to Wednesday’s referendum on direct presidential elections. Police picked up a total of 25 Brotherhood leaders from their homes in the early hours of the morning, including the secretary-general of the Islamist movement’s Guidance Council, Mahmoud Ezzat, Brotherhood members said.
The crackdown on the Brotherhood began in March and has continued as the government prepares for the constitutional referendum, which the Brotherhood and the main recognized opposition parties have called on Egyptians to boycott. The 25 men were held for questioning on charges that they belonged to an illegal organization and were preparing leaflets calling for the referendum boycott and for protests against the government, prosecution sources said.
“The accusation of calling on the people to boycott the referendum ... is amazing, given that the Brotherhood is exercising its constitutional right to express its opinion,” leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef said in a written statement. “How can the regime say that it is taking a step on the road to reform and at the same time detain more than 2,500 Brotherhood members? Is this the fruit of reform?” he added.
Close to 3,000 members of the movement have spent some time in custody since the Brotherhood started street protests in March for political change and an end to the state of emergency. The Brotherhood says that more than 800 of those are still in detention.
The Brotherhood, as the largest opposition movement in the country, has been one of the leaders in a broader movement of protest against President Hosni Mubarak, who is widely expected to seek a sixth five-year term in September elections.
The Brotherhood objects to a constitutional amendment proposed in the referendum because it sets tough conditions for independents to compete for the presidency, in effect excluding Islamist candidates, who are not allowed to form parties.
Deputy Brotherhood leader Mohamed Habib said yesterday’s raids were in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta provinces and in the Greater Cairo area. “We condemn this unjustified action, which violates the law and the constitution ... and contradicts the (government’s) claim that emergency law is used only against cases of violence and drugs,” Habib told Reuters.
Other leaders detained yesterday included Helmi El-Gazzar and Ahmed Sharaf, the manager of the Brotherhood’s publishing house, said the editor of the Brotherhood website. Ezzat, a member of the top leadership along with Akef, Habib and another deputy leader, is the most senior member so far detained.
