Nine non-governmental organizations denounced the arrest of relatives and supporters of the former Egyptian parliamentarian Ahmed Tantawy After he announced his intention to compete for the presidency from the country.
“The signatory organizations condemn the detention of at least eight family members and supporters of potential presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawy, and the decision by the State Prosecutor’s Office to place them in preventive detention for fifteen days on various charges, including joining a terrorist organization,” read a joint statement.
Tantawy was forced to leave the country a few months ago “due to pressure from security agencies for publicly demand guarantees for a National Dialogue just to stand up equality to the authorities and the opposition”, adds the letter headed, among others, by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. Since then, the politician resides in the Lebanon.
The former parliamentarian was also one of the critics of the punitive measures that were adopted against those who challenged the current Egyptian president, Abdelfatah al-Sisiduring the 2018 electionsin which his re-election was consummated without the presence of serious opposition.
As a consequence, then, the authorities detained Sami Anan, a retired general who was denied the possibility of running to lead the country, and other figures were pressured to withdraw their applications.
However, in March, the also former journalist had announced that this May 6 he would return to Egypt to stand for the presidential elections, which will take place in 2024, and in which Al Sisi has not -yet- expressed his intention to compete.
Tantawy was also a opponent of the 2019 constitutional amendments that, among other issues, they increased the limit of the presidential term by two years, which guarantees the current leader to seek the reelection for a third term next year, if you wish.
“The detention of Tantawy’s relatives and supporters is a sign that the Egyptian government remains unwilling to address the human rights crisis in Egypt and has no intention of agreeing to meaningful reform through the National Dialogue process, nor the will to allow free and fair presidential elections in 2024″, the NGOs added.
Coincidentally, the arrests against those close to the politician occurred hours after the start of the Dialogue process that includes all the political and trade union forces in the territory, and seeks improve the guarantees of human rights in the country as well as the political and economic situation.
Egypt is going through one of its worst crises in recent years, which has led it to have to resort to this type of instance to achieve a profound and effective change.
Egypt “has the capacity and potential that allows it to find ways to develop in all fields,” Al Sisi commented as he launched the initiative, adding that “the growing challenges faced by the Egyptian state at all levels have strengthened my will to the need for a dialogue, which I aspire to be comprehensive, effective and lively”.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com