Bahrain: Calls to halt deportation of Egyptian dissidents
Bahrain: Calls to halt deportation of Egyptian dissidents
Shahab Centre for Human Rights urged Bahrain to halt the deportation of two Egyptian opposition figures, who were reportedly arrested in Manama after an Egyptian request.
2 min read
The NGO said both Egyptian nationals had been residing in Bahrain for the past eight years [Getty]
A rights group has called on Bahrain to stop the deportation of two Egyptian opposition figures who live in the Gulf kingdom, saying they were detained in the capital city Manama earlier this week after "a request" from authorities in Egypt.
The Shahab Centre for Human Rights (SCHR), also known as El Shehab NGO, denounced the alleged "arbitrary detention" ofÌý59-year-oldÌýAlsayed Mohamed Mahmoud Al-Aajez and 45-year-oldÌýMohamed Al-Iraqi Saad Hasanein.
The NGO said both Egyptian nationals had been residing in Bahrain for the past eight years and were arrested on Wednesday.
"The [SCHR] condemnsÌýthe detention of these persons and calls for their immediate release and prevention of deportation," the group said in a , adding that the pair "had committed no crimes".
The group also said that the men had been residing and working "legitimately" in Bahrain.
The SCHR said thatÌýAl-Aajez, from the Egyptian city of Talkha,Ìýis a businessman and a father of eight children. He was subject to an assets freeze in Egypt since 2014.
The group added that Hasanein,Ìýalso fromÌýTalkha city, is a computer engineer and a father of three children. He was sentenced to life imprisonement in 2018 in a case widely known as theÌý"Rabaa dispersal case".
°®Âþµº has contacted the Bahrain embassy in London for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The detentions coincide with the tenth anniversary of theÌýRabaa Massacre of August 2013, when Egyptian police and armed forces violently dispersed a a six-week-long peaceful protest at the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in Cairo, killing hundreds of people.
This followed a military coup by current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi against his predecessor, Mohammed Morsi - Egypt's first democratically elected head of state.
Human Rights WatchÌýdescribed it as a crime against humanityÌýand "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history".
Since Sisi'sÌýrise to power, Egypt - which enjoys strong relations with Bahrain - has been utilising Interpol red notices as a tool to pursue political dissidents overseas.
Human rights groups estimate that in the past 10 years, at least 60,000 political prisoners have been jailed in Egypt.
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