Human Rights Defenders Continue to be Targeted and Harassed: Radio Horytna Office Raided and Director Detained

Human Rights Defenders Continue to be Targeted and Harassed: Radio Horytna Office Raided and Director Detained

CAIRO, 06 April 2015 / PRN Africa / -- The undersigned organizations unequivocally condemn the ongoing campaign to intimidate and terrorize human rights defenders in Egypt. The recent arrest of Ahmed Samih, the director of Radio Horytna and the Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies, is politically motivated and aims to limit the tools civil society uses to spread a culture of human rights.




A force from the Sayyida Zeinab police station and the Artistic Products Investigations Unit raided the office of Radio Horytna on Qasr al-Aini St. on Saturday, April 4. The force searched the premises and questioned staff about how they write the news, the content of their news reports, and whether they were affiliated with any political groups or forces. The force then arrested human rights defender Ahmed Samih and referred him to the Sayyida Zeinab Prosecution the same day. After he was questioned, documents were submitted proving the falsity of the allegations against him. Nevertheless, the prosecution ordered that Samih remain in detention until the following day pending the findings of the Internet Investigations Inquiries unit.




After the investigation file was submitted, yesterday April 5, the Sayyida Zeinab Prosecution released Samih on a bail of LE5,000 with five charges including disseminating audio and visual content without a license from the competent authorities and managing a facility without a permit.




Radio Horytna is an online radio station that has been broadcasting since 2007. An initiative of the Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies, Radio Horytna was established to reach a broader youth audience in the promotion of a culture of diversity and respect for human rights.




In a hostile political climate that does not guarantee freedom for rights groups and organizations, and amid the violation of the right to freedom of expression and opinion, enshrined in the Egyptian constitution of 2014, and the closure of the public sphere to those who engage in activities to preserve human rights in the country, the intention of this type of harassment and legal action is clear: to circumscribe and strangle the activities and initiatives of rights organizations and to make advocacy work, whether through organizations or initiatives, a dangerous endeavor.


SOURCE Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies


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