AFP is saying that those who joined the hunger strike in Bourg el-Arab Prison have gone up to 280 prisoners:
Dozens of inmates at a prison in northern Egypt went on hunger strike on Sunday to protest against their continued detention despite repeated court orders for their release, an inmate said.
Some 280 prisoners at Borg El-Arab jail near Alexandria launched the protest because the authorities have not freed them despite individual court orders to do so, the inmate said.
The man, who asked that his name not be used, told AFP by telephone that he has been in jail for five years and had obtained 13 court orders for his release.
“Every time I got a court order I would be taken to a police station to finish the paperwork for my release and instead I’d be rearrested and sent back to jail,” he said by telephone.
“We now appeal to President [Hosni] Mubarak to intervene and look into our cases,” the inmate added.
Rights groups have repeatedly criticized Egypt for keeping prisoners behind bars after their release has been ordered.
I spoke with a Socialist source in Cairo, who also did not have much details about what’s going on, except that he said the news he’s getting talks about 500 detainees joining the hunger strike, not just 280.. But nothing can be confirmed at the moment.
More worrying, according to the Socialist source in Cairo and another in Ghazl el-Mahalla, State Security Police has submitted a new report to the Prosecutor, accusing the five following Textile Workers League activists in Ghazl el-Mahalla of “agitating for a strike”: Gihad Taman, Wael Habib, Gamal Abu el-Esa’ad as well as the two detained workers Kamal el-Fayoumi and Kareem el-Beheiri. This means the govt is moving to try to keep the already detained Mahalla activists for a longer period of time in prison, add more labor organizers to the detainees’ population, and turn it into a trial in court.