Cairo frees human rights lawyer Malek Adly
He had supported the protests in April against ceding two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. He was arrested on 5 May on charges of "spreading false news" and “attempting to topple the ruling system”.
Cairo (AsiaNews) – Egyptian authorities released a human rights lawyer who had been arrested for protesting against the decision of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to cede two islands to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.
Plainclothes police arrested Malek Adly on 5 May. He had backed popular protests in late April against closer relations between Cairo and Riyadh.
His defence team confirmed his release. "The case has not been referred to trial yet," said one of his lawyers.
In late April, people took to the streets accusing al-Sisi of selling out two islands (Tiran and Sanafir) in exchange for Saudi investments. On 25 April, more than 1,000 people chanted for the "fall of the regime."
Police arrested scores of activists before raiding the journalists' union to arrest two reporters who are part of Adly’s case.
The three have been accused of "attempting to topple the ruling system" and "spreading false news”.
An Egyptian administrative court ruled in June that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, situated at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, must remain under Egyptian sovereignty. The government has appealed the decision.
Sisi has defended the move, saying the islands were Saudi to begin with and were leased to Egypt in the 1950s.
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