Egypt orders arrest of 2 top activists over protests

CAIRO - Egypt on Wednesday ordered the arrest of two prominent activists for defying a new law on demonstrations, hours after the authorities dumped a mainly-women group of protesters in the desert.

Egypt's general prosecutor had ordered the arrest of Ahmed Maher, founder of the April 6 movement that spearheaded the 2011 revolt against former president Hosni Mubarak, and Alaa Abdel Fattah, a prominent activist, state news agency MENA said.

The two were to be detained for four days over demonstrations held in Cairo on Tuesday in defiance of a new disputed law that requires organisers to seek prior permission for protests.

"The two are accused of inciting protesters to hold demonstrations that broke the protest law," the prosecution said, according to MENA.

The report added that 24 other protesters who joined Tuesday's demonstration had been ordered detained for four days.

Tuesday's protests were broken up by police using water canons and tear gas, in the first use in Cairo of the greater powers given to them under the new law.

Judiciary and other sources said around 60 protesters were detained, including prominent activist Mona Seif, founder of a campaign against military trials of civilians.

She was held after joining a protest outside the Shura Council, where Egypt's new constitution is being drafted. The protest was aimed specifically at the inclusion of an article in the draft law that allows the military to try civilians in certain cases.

Seif and a group of 15 other women and 12 men were later released in the middle of the night some 10 kilometres (about six miles) south of Cairo on a desert road.

"The ministry of interior alleges that each one of us had been dropped at her house, which means that all of us are living in the desert," Seif wrote on her Twitter account later.

Maglaa Bedeir, the mother of one of the female protesters, told AFP the women had been badly treated.

"They were beaten before they were put in a truck. The truck then took a long tour meant to scare them before finally dropping them on a desert road," said Bedeir.

Tuesday's other protest, which was organised by Maher, demanded the prosecution of those responsible for the deaths of demonstrators in November 2011 when opponents of the then ruling military junta clashed with police in Cairo.

Authorities said Tuesday's protests were not authorised as the organisers had not given the required three-day written notice.

The disputed law says protesters can be jailed for up to five years if found guilty of offences ranging from covering their faces to carrying weapons while participating in demonstrations.

It also says that security forces must first verbally warn protesters at prohibited demonstrations to disperse before using water cannon or tear gas, and should only gradually escalate to the firing of birdshot if other means fail.

On Tuesday night, 10 members of the 50-member constitution panel that is drafting the new basic law suspended their work to protest the arrests of the demonstrators.