The Mahalla 3 (Kamal el-Fayoumi, Tarek Amin and Kareem el-Beheiri) have sent out a message from Bourg el-Arab Prison.
Tag: mahalla
ILO: Cronies of the World Unite!
So the International Labor Organization is throwing a party:
More than 3,000 government, worker and employer leaders are to meet here from 28 May to 13 June for the annual Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to discuss a wide range of issues including rural poverty reduction, the latest developments in labor rights and enhancing skills development.
The annual meeting of the ILO will also consider strategic challenges in terms of obtaining decent work, as well as host a high-level panel discussion on 11 June on “Tackling the Food Crisis through investment, production and decent work”.
I’m sure the outcome of the conference will be fantastic, putting into consideration the nature of the participants. For example, the Egyptian workers, according to a message I received from a Socialist source, are “represented” by delegation of more than 30 state-backed General Federation of Trade Unions officials.. those government cronies, whose local officials are unlected, winning their seats by forgery and vote rigging, and during strikes they are either “detained” by their fellow workers to be forced to stay in the occupation (like what happened in Kafr el-Dawar), or simply hospitalized (like what happened in Mahalla with poor Seddiq Siyam:). Those general federation cronies are now in Switzerland together with their fellow cronies from other parts of the world discussing “decent work”.. And what’s even more obscene is that the ILO invites those cronies from Egypt at a time when the regime has just put down a two-day uprising by the workers and urban poor in Mahalla, and is outright repressing the right to strike and peaceful protest, and is keeping the Ghazl el-Mahalla labor organizers in prison under martial law… all crimes where the General Federation of Trade Unions and its head the corrupt Hussein Megawer of the NDP are directly involved in.
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.