New rights worries over arrests in Egypt
CAIRO (AP) -- The detentions of an Egyptian labor lawyer and a journalist raised concerns among rights activists Friday that the military-backed government's crackdown on Islamists is expanding to silence other critics of its policies.
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The detentions of labor lawyer Haitham Mohammadain and journalist Ahmed Abu-Draa raised further alarm among activists.
Mohammadain was detained from a bus Thursday at a checkpoint in the port city of Suez. He belongs to the Revolutionary Socialists, a well-known leftist group which took part in the 2011 uprising against autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak and protests against Morsi and is now critical of the military.
His lawyer, Maha Youssef, said Mohammedain was first asked by the policeman at the checkpoint why he has a beard, which is seen as a sign of an Islamist. When he objected to the question, the policeman asked him to step out of the bus for more frisking, a power granted to police under the current emergency laws.
When the officer found papers on him identifying him as a member of the Revolutionary Socialists, the officer detained Mohammadain and wrote a police report accusing him of belonging to a secret group, according to Youssef.
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