Egyptian authorities host dialogue on detention after new wave of arrests

CAIRO (Reuters) -Egyptian authorities have extended the pretrial detention of at least 125 people and arrested two journalists shortly before holding a national dialogue on Tuesday to discuss pretrial detention policies, rights lawyers and groups say.

Most of those detained were swept up in a wave of arrests following calls for protests on July 12 over economic conditions under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, they said.

Although there were no protests, dozens were arrested from their homes and held on accusations including spreading false news, using social media platforms to promote terrorist ideas, and belonging to a terrorist organization, rights lawyer Nabih El-Genady said.

On Sunday and Monday the public prosecution extended their detention for 15 days, he and another rights lawyer, Khalid Ali, said. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, a rights group, confirmed that at least 125 people were being held.

Authorities have also arrested two journalists in the past week, one a cartoonist for independent news outlet Al-Manassa missing since plain-clothed officers raided his house on Monday, the other a reporter for the Arabic Post new website, said Ali.

Rights groups have long criticised the extensive use of pretrial detention to keep people jailed for years. They say it should be a last resort, not standard procedure.

Egypt's State Information Service said recommendations on pretrial detention from Tuesday's meetings under a national political dialogue launched in April 2022 would be sent to Sisi.

It said calls for protest were issued by members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, describing this as "another desperate attempt by the terrorist group to sow discord within the nation".

Former army chief Sisi came to power after leading the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, the country's first democratically elected leader, amid protests in 2013. Over the past decade he has overseen a wide crackdown on dissent that has swept up liberals and leftists as well as Islamists.

Officials say the judiciary acts independently and authorities are taking steps on human rights, though critics have dismissed measures as largely cosmetic.

Ahmed al-Sharkawy, a member of parliament who sits on the dialogue's board, said it had facilitated the release of some 1,500 people after years of pretrial detention, including 79 freed on Monday.

"I'm not saying everything is perfect. There are still issues, but we are seeing good results," Sharkawy said.

Others including the Civil Democratic Movement (CDM), a liberal opposition block which suspended its involvement in the dialogue in June over lack of progress, have been more sceptical, especially on the issue of freedom of expression.

"Until the state shows genuine intent to release all prisoners in pretrial detention, there is no point in attending a dialogue session," said CDM co-founder and political scientist Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid.

(Reporting by Cairo bureau, Editing by William Maclean)