Amnesty International staff released but Egyptian activists still detained

Two members of an Amnesty International fact-finding team were among five human rights workers and journalists freed by Egyptian military police late on Friday night after a day and half in detention.

The five were among some 35 Egyptian and international human rights activists, lawyers and journalists arrested Thursday when military police raided the offices of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center in Cairo.

None of the Egyptian nationals have been released. Amnesty International believes that they remain held incommunicado at Camp 75, a military police camp in Manshiyet el-Bakri, on the outskirts of Cairo.

“We are greatly relieved by the release of our staff members and those freed with them,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.  “But it is simply outrageous that the Egyptian activists arrested with them have not also been freed.”

“There can be no justification for continuing to detain them,” said Salil Shetty. “They must be released immediately, unconditionally, and returned in safety to their families.”

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