Nadda al-Qassas, Rasha 3azab and Ashraf Ibrahim, spent last night in Dokki, Bassateen, and 3abdeen police stations, respectively.
The detainees, according to an activist source, were transferred from Tora and Qanater prisons yesterday to the State Security HQ in Lazoughli Sq, downtown Cairo. After that, they were moved to the police stations, where they spent the night, and were still locked up there, despite protests from their lawyers.
I spoke with Ahmad Helmi, one the detainees’ lawyers at 4pm, Cairo time, but he had Nada beside him. He said, the lawyers had been planning a demo in front of the Dokki police station till they released Nada. “State Security was definitely monitoring our phone calls,” he said, laughing. “As soon as they heard a ‘demo’ was planned, Nada was released. She’s beside me now. I want them to hear me now as I’m speaking to you: We are going to demonstrate in front of 3abdeen and Bassateen if Ashraf and Nada aren’t released right away. You hear me?”
He then passed the phone to Nada, with whom I briefly spoke over the phone. She is in good spirit.
Helmi and other lawyers are on their way to 3abdeen police station, and are planning to head to Bassateen later, threatening to organize a sit in, if the release of the two activists are further stalled.
UPDATE: Ashraf Ibarhim and Rasha 3azab were finally released around 6pm. I spoke with Ashraf over the phone. He was as funny as always, and his morale was high. He’s sending his regards to all those who are campaigning for the detainees’ release.
Do you know anything about Rasha’s situation? How is she doing? Who is her lawyer? I met her at demonstrations years ago, and ran into her again during a trip to Egypt this year. I’ve crawled through any and all information about the detainees that I can find, but I’ve seen relatively little about Rasha.
Sara, I haven’t spoken with Rasha yet, but I was told by Ashraf Ibrahim and the activists at the Lawyers’ Syndicate tonight that she was released too.
[…] As I’m blogging now, 3alaa is speaking on MBC, about the bloggers community in Egypt, human rights abuses, prospects for activism in Egypt, and his encounter with the Muslim Brothers youth in detention. Two released detainees are also to appear on Dream2 TV, Saturday 8pm (Cairo time), together with two Mubrak’s National Democratic Party MPs. Kefaya activists Ahmad Salah and Nada al-Qassas are to debate political reform against Yehya Wahdan, the former State Security Colonel who became the MB for Bab el-She3reya district (formerly represented by Dr. Ayman Nour), and Dr. Sherin 3abdel 3aziz, Al-Waylee’s district MP. The talkshow host is Wael el-Ibrashi. […]
[…] UPDATE: It’s 4pm, I got a phone call from a blogger saying they are marching now in downtown! Around 200 activists managed to re-assemble, after the security and thugs’ assaults, in Opera Square. They are marching towards the Press Syndicate, chanting slogans against Israel, US, and the Egyptian police. Several activists haven been injured already. Released detainee Rasha 3azzab, according to the blogger, was assaulted by the thugs who slapped her on the face and pushed her to the ground. […]