Al-Ghad elections campaigners arrested in downtown Cairo
Fri, 12/11/2010
John Ehab
Egyptian security forces arrested two election campaigners for al-Ghad opposition party in downtown Cairo on Thursday evening.
The activists were accused of distributing leaflets promoting Gamila Ismail, an opposition candidate for the district of Kasr al-Nil in Cairo, outside the official election campaigning period which will start next week.
“The police are trying to target our campaigners because the regime is afraid of our capacity to mobilize voters,” Ismail said.
According to the regulations of the High Elections Commission, electoral campaigning should be launched only two weeks prior to the parliamentary elections which are scheduled to take place on 28 November.
However, almost all contenders for the parliamentary elections, both from the ruling National Democratic Party and opposition groups, have already posted their banners in various districts throughout Egypt.
Mohamed Soka and Abdullah Saadawi, the detained campaigners, were released around 2:30 AM after being questioned by prosecutors.
Ismail is the ex-wife of well-known opposition figure Ayman Nour who came a distant second after President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections.
*Photograph by Mohamed Abdel Ghany
No comments:
Post a Comment