Egyptian protesters detained indefinitely
Those arrested in the crackdown on supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi face seemingly indefinite incarceration.
CAIRO — As the interim government continues its crackdown on protesters and leading activists are being detained, other protesters are being held in jail for months while prosecutors continuously renew their detention for 15 days.
It has already been nearly 2½ months since Omar Assaf, a financial analyst and father of three small children, was dragged from his house by a dozen armed Egyptian special forces troops at 2 a.m. on Sept. 23. At first, nobody knew what had happened to him, but later they found out that he had been arrested for planning a strike and incitement of riots against the police.
He and five other detainees facing the same charges have to appear in court for the fifth time. They wore white prison clothes and were locked in a cage while they waited for the judge to appear. Omar’s mother and wife cannot attend the trial, but when they pay the policemen 20 Egyptian pounds ($2.90), the guards let them in for a few minutes.
"It always goes like this," Dina, his wife, told Al-Monitor early in the morning. "At the end of the day, we paid over 100 pounds ($14.50) just to talk to him, to see him."
