The Mahalla 3 (Kamal el-Fayoumi, Tarek Amin and Kareem el-Beheiri) have sent out a message from Bourg el-Arab Prison.
Tag: 6 april 2008
Prosecutor interrogates Mahalla labor leaders
Ghazl el-Mahalla labor leader Wael Habib was interrogated by the prosecutor over accusations of “agitating workers to strike.” The prosecutor ordered his release from Mahalla’s 2nd Police Station.
UPDATE: Here’s a report by Sarah Carr:
Investigation of five Mahalla workers begins
The Mahalla public prosecution office Tuesday began investigations into five workers from the Ghazl El-Mahalla spinning factory in connection with the events of April 6.
Gehad Tammam, Mostafa Fawda, Gamal Abul Assad, Kamal El-Fayyoumy, Karim El-Beheiry and Wael Habib are members of the group within the factory which attempted to organize a strike early last month.
Although worker divisions and intense pressure by security bodies led to the collapse of the strike, on the same day protests against rising food prices erupted in Mahalla and were violently contained by security bodies.
One boy, 15-year-old Ali Mubarak, was killed by what rights groups say was live ammunition as he stood in the balcony of his home to watch the clashes in the street below.
El-Fayyoumy and El-Beheiry were arrested separately on April 6.
The two men are currently being held in Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab Prison where they are on hunger strike in protest at the failure of prison authorities to inform them why they are being held without charge.
The men allege that they were tortured in Mahalla’s state security headquarters.
Shortly after their arrest, they were dismissed from their jobs in the factory.
Only Habib attended the investigations Tuesday.
He is charged with various offences under Article 124 of the Egyptian Penal Code, including inciting other public sector employees to go on strike, possession of documents, interrupting work in the factory, and conspiring with others to print documents which led to the events of April 6.
Lawyer Ahmad Ezzat emphasized the political nature of this case.
“This case is clearly political and interference by security bodies restricts the powers and independence of the public prosecution office,” Ezzat told Daily News Egypt.
Despite the fact that the questioning ended early afternoon, at 6 pm on Tuesday Habib was still being held at the Mahalla Police Station.
“He’s being held for questioning by state security and we’re not sure when exactly he will be released but we’ve been given a rough time of 8 pm,” Ezzat told Daily News Egypt.
Ezzat says that the investigation will continue on Thursday.
Mahalla Updates
The Mahalla labor leaders are to be interrogated Tuesday by the Prosecutor, after a complaint was submitted from the Ghazl el-Mahalla company – acting at the behest of SS Police – accusing them of “agitating workers to strike”.
The five names included in the interrogation are of the Leading Textile Workers’ League activists Gihad Taman, Wael Habib, Gamal Abu el-Esa’ad as well as the two detained workers Kamal el-Fayoumi and Kareem el-Beheiri… It’s unclear, whether Kamal and Kareem who are currently on a hunger strike in Bourg el-Arab Prison will be transferred to Mahalla for the interrogation or not.
In other news, Muhammad Maree, Buck’s translator, was re-categorized by the prison authorities as a “political (not criminal) detainee,” and moved to the same cell where the Mahalla 3 are kept. Here’s a report by Sarah Carr:
Three former employees of the Ghazl El-Mahalla spinning factory have launched a second, open-ended, hunger strike in protest against their detention.
Kamal El-Fayyoumy, Tareq Amin and Karim El-Beheiry were arrested separately on April 6.
All three were involved in the organization of a strike in the factory planned for the same day, which collapsed following worker disunity and intimidation by security bodies.
Violence subsequently erupted in the Delta town after security bodies clashed with residents protesting increasing food prices.
The three men are currently being held in Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab prison.
In a letter sent to the head of the Judges’ Club last week, the men announced that they are on hunger strike, and called for a public prosecution office investigation into why they are being held without charge over a month after their arrest.
El-Fayyoumy, Amin and El-Beheiry were dismissed from their employment in the factory shortly after their arrest
Lawyer Ahmad Ezzat visited the men on Saturday with three other lawyers from a group formed to assist individuals detained in connection with the events of April 6.
He told Daily News Egypt that the three men have decided to launch a second, open-ended, hunger strike to protest their illegal detention and summary dismissal from the factory.
“Sacking workers involved in labor organizing is a common tool used by the authorities in order to make it impossible for them to pursue these activities without a source of income,” Ezzat explained.
Muhammad Maree, a translator who was arrested in Mahalla with American national James Buck on April 10, is also being held in Borg El-Arab prison without charge.
Buck was released the day after the Mahalla public prosecution office ordered that both men be released.
Ezzat says that Marei has been moved to a different prison wing.
“Prison authorities have finally agreed to requests that he be held with political prisoners rather than convicted criminals and he has been moved,” Ezzat told Daily News Egypt.
Under Egyptian law political detainees are meant to be separated from those convicted of ordinary criminal offenses.