Ghazl el-Mahalla activists to be released

I received news around an hour ago, that the Tanta Prosecutor has ordered the release of a number of Mahalla detainees, including the 11 detained Ghazl el-Mahalla labor activists. Among those are our Kamal el-Fayoumi, Kareem el-Beheiry, and Tarek el-Senoussi.

Here’s also report from Tadamon about the recent release orders.

The Center for Socialist Studies issued a statement on Mahalla, while HRINFO denounced the raid on Muhammad el-Sharqawi‘s publishing house.

I gave an interview earlier to Democracy Now TV, on the Mahalla Uprising and the crackdown on the MBs, which you can watch here. Also Comrade Simon wrote about Mahalla in Socialist Worker, and below is a must read report by Sarah Carr in the Daily Star Egypt:

Egypt’s state-controlled media has failed to accurately present the events which took place in El-Mahalla last week on April 6 and 7, said participants in a press conference organized by the Hisham Mubarak Law Center in Cairo Wednesday.
The rights group — which has been active in the defence of individuals who were arrested all over Egypt following the general strike called for by opposition groups April 6 — invited eyewitnesses who saw what happened in Mahalla during the two days of protests to give their accounts.
Salah Muhammad was shot in the eye when he left work to run an errand.
“I was treated in Mansoura Hospital and handcuffed to the hospital bed for two days,” Muhammad said.
“I was then taken to a police station where they forced me to sign a blank charges form.”

I also received the following letter of solidarity signed by US activists:

We, the undersigned, demand the immediate release of all strikers and protesters, an immediate halt to repression of the workers’ movement and a full, independent, inquiry into police violence:
1. Michael Zweig, SUNY Stony Brook
2. Bill Henning, CWA Local 380
3. Mike Parker, UAW 1900
4. Jeff Crosby, IUE-CWA 201
5. Kim Moody, NUJ, UK
6. Jerry Tucker, UAW 325
7. Leonard Riley, Jr., ILA 1422
8. Fred Hirsch, Plumbers and Fitters 393
9. Martin Unzueta, Chicago Workers Collaborative
10. Jorge Mujica, UE & Chicago March 10 Movement
11. Ricardo Calderon, Frente Sindical Salvadoreno
12. Benedicto Martinez, Frente Autentico Del Trabajo
13. Robin Alwanch, UE
14. Nancy Evans, UHW
15. Dirveu Travesco, Conlutas, Brazil
16. Brian Cruz, SEIU 1021
17. Darrin Hoop, UFCW 21
18. Marva Wade, New York State Nurses Association
19. Randy Childs, UTLA
20. Guillermo Perez, CSEA, NY
21. Mark Goudkamp, NSW Teachers Federation, Australia
22. Katslen DiMensen, HK-Denmark
22. Steve Zeltzer, IUOE 39, LAbor Video Project
23. Glenna Swinford, UAW 3520, Freightliner 5
24. Tay Aluko, Tayo Aluko & Friends, UK
25. James Daria, Farm Labor Organizing Committee
26. Allen Bradley, UAW 3520, Freightliner 5
27. Shaun Harkin, Chicago March 10 Movement
28. Mildred Brown, UHW
29. Robert Whiteside, UAW 3520, Freightliner 5
30. Alexander Ramos, Adelante FLOC
31. Maria Pizarro, AFSCME 2089
32. Franklin Torrence, UAW 3520
33. Mara Lira SindiAlimentacao, VidaViva Platform Brazil
34. Anton Marcus, FTZGSEU, ExChains, Sri Lanka
35. Lee Sustar, NWU
36. Howard Zinn