Egypt: labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain arrested by army

[Le Socialiste]

Thought comrades should be aware of this. If you want to do the things they suggest I guess you can, but my primary focus is on the event itself.


Haitham Mohamedain, one of Egypt’s leading labour lawyers and an activist with the Revolutionary Socialists, was arrested on his way to meet clients in Suez. He was detained by the Army near Suez and has been transferred to a police station in the city. According to the latest information from Egypt, he has been charged with assaulting an army officer.

Haitham has played a leading role for years in defending workers in struggle, both in the police station and in the streets as a revolutionary activist. He was at the forefront of the massive protests against Mohamed Morsi on 30 June, but has also been one of the few voices condemning the military’s crackdown and the killing of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters since the Army takeover.

What you can do:

Sign the statement below calling for Haitham’s release and the dropping of all charges. Add you name here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14NF9GZMBHKnDCeJ993VCmDpQV7eexF4yXc66SAFUvzc/viewform).

Write urgently to the Egyptian authorities calling for his release and an end to the harassment and prosecution of the military’s political opponents. Rush messages of protest to General Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi, Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Email General al-Sisi ([email protected]), copy in Kamal Abu Aita, Minister of Labour ([email protected]), the Egyptian Ambassador to the UK ([email protected]), the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States ([email protected]), or the Egyptian embassy in your country (http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/egypt#).

Sign and circulate our Emergency Statement on Egypt (http://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2013/08/18/egypt-emergency-statement-on-the-military-crackdown/).

Freedom for Haitham Mohamedain

We condemn the arrest and detention of Haitham Mohamedain by the Egyptian army on 5th September in Suez. Haitham is a well known labour lawyer and revolutionary activist who has represented hundreds of workers arrested on picket lines or facing court hearings as a result of victimisation by their bosses or assaults by the police. Just two weeks ago he was in Suez defending steel workers whose strike for higher wages was broken up by the Army.

As a leading member of the Revolutionary Socialists, Haitham has also been one of only a small number of revolutionary activists prepared to publicly condemn the brutal crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood by the Army in recent weeks, including the killing of hundreds of protesters on 14th August.

We call for Haitham’s immediate release and the withdrawal of any charges against him.

http://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2013/09/05/egypt-labour-lawyer-haitham-mohamedain-arrested-by-army/

[Le Socialiste]

Good news! Haitham seems to have been released, according to a message I received several minutes ago:


Dear friends,

Thank you for signing the statement in protest at Haitham Mohamedain's arrest on Thursday. The international campaign in solidarity with revolutionaries in Egypt is more important now than ever. Over 800 people across five continents signed the statement for Haitham in just over 48 hours.

You can read the current list of signatories here:
http://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2013/09/05/egypt-freedom-for-haitham-mohamedain-add-your-name-here/

As you may have already heard, Haitham has just been released from custody.
Members of his legal team reported during the hearing a number of very serious charges were raised

http://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2013/09/07/egypt-haitham-mohamedain-charged-with-terrorism-against-the-state/

We will let everyone who signed the statement know more once we know some more details of what is happening now that he has been released. There will also certainly be further campaigns in solidarity with other activists who are also being targeted by the Egyptian military.

MENA Solidarity Network

A little concerned with the charges being leveled against him, though.

[Le Socialiste]

The below article sheds a little light on the pressure inside and outside of Egypt to release Haitham, and what it means for the military's widening of its crackdown on dissidents:


HAITHAM MOHAMEDEIN, an Egyptian labor lawyer and well-known member of the Revolutionary Socialists, was released from detention late on September 7 without any charges filed against him following a campaign of pressure organized inside and outside Egypt.

But left-wing journalists and activists are continuing to raise their voices against threats that the military rulers of the country will widen their ongoing crackdown on dissent.

...

On Saturday, according to the Daily News Egypt, Mohamedein was interrogated before the Supreme State Security Court of Emergency. Ramy Ghanem, who was one of the lawyers present, said the accusations against Mohamedein were all political, ranging from "forming a secret organization which aims at shifting the structure of society, to incitement and assistance to subvert public institutions, harming social peace," among others, he told the Daily News.

...

ON SEPTEMBER 7, according to an Ahram Online report, hundreds of people gathered in front of the prosecutor general's office in downtown Cairo to demand Mohamedein's release. The protest was called by the Revolutionary Socialists, along with members of the April 6 Youth Movement, the Egyptian Current Party and other revolutionaries, including well-known blogger and activist Alaa Abdel-Fatah and television journalist Reem Maged.

Another demonstration in solidarity with Mohamadein was held in front of the main courts building in Egypt's second largest city of Alexandria.

Rest can be found here (http://socialistworker.org/2013/09/09/egyptian-revolutionary-released).