Defend Haitham Mohamedain
Egyptian labor lawyer and member of the Revolutionary Socialists Haitham Mohamedain was arrested September 5 by Egyptian security forces while en route to Suez to meet labor clients. As this statement went to press, the prosecution in Suez had extended Mohamedain's detention to four days, without any formal interrogation or accusation.
He will be questioned by general prosecution on September 7 in Suez. Solidarity protests will be held that day in Cairo and Alexandria calling for his immediate release.
Here, the Mena Solidarity Network describes what you can do to demand his release.
HAITHAM MOHAMEDAIN, one of Egypt's leading labor lawyers and an activist with the Revolutionary Socialists, has been 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 June 30, 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:
1. Sign the statement calling for Haitham's release and the dropping of all charges.
2. Write urgently to the Egyptian authorities and call for Haitham's 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. E-mail General al-Sisi and copy Kamal Abu Aita, the minister of Labor, as well as the Egyptian Ambassador to the UK, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States or the Egyptian embassy in your country.
3. Sign and circulate our Emergency Statement on Egypt.
WE CONDEMN the arrest and detention of Haitham Mohamedain by the Egyptian Army on September 5 in Suez. Haitham is a well-known labor lawyer and revolutionary activist who has represented hundreds of workers arrested on picket lines or facing court hearings as a result of victimization 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 August 14.
We call for Haitham's immediate release and the withdrawal of any charges against him.
First published at the Mena Solidarity Network.
