When the family of human rights activist Ahmed Seif, 63, released a short statement a week ago, announcing that he had passed away, a campaign was already underway calling for the release of dozens of activists. Among them are two of Seif's children, held for months for violating the unpopular Protest Law. Only days before Seif's death, his eldest child, 32-year-old Alaa, and youngest, 19-year-old Sanaa, were allowed by prison authorities to see their dying father in hospital. Following the visit, they announced that they would go on hunger strike to demand their release, and that of other activists detained under the controversial law. The bitter irony that a man who spent much of his life defending the rights of political activists, whether leftists like himself or militant Islamists, died while two of his own children are in prison, was unlikely to be lost on the thousands who attended his funeral and burial on 28 August, or came to offer condolences to his family two days late at Omar Makram Mosque in Tahrir Square. Alaa and Sanaa Seif attended both the burial, and condolences at Omar Makram Mosque, under police escort. The Interior Ministry allowed their temporary release from prison following appeals from their lawyers and members of the National Council for Human Rights. They were not, however, allowed to attend the prayers for the dead at Salaheddine Mosque in Manial on Thursday. The authorities apparently feared their presence might incite unrest in the busy street. Police drove Alaa and Sanaa to the cemetery in Sayeda Aisha where their father was buried. Hundreds of young people walked through the narrow streets of the area known as the City of the Dead, raising posters of Seif and banners describing him as “the ideal freedom fighter.” Both Alaa and Sanaa were dressed in the white prison uniform issued to detainees awaiting trial. While Alaa, detained under Hosni Mubarak, Field Marshall Tantawi, Mohamed Morsi and now Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, appeared calm given his current incarceration, his younger sister was clearly devastated. She seemed barely able to walk and was flanked by two female guards who held onto her arms. After the burial, Alaa stood next to Sanaa and their sister Mona, founder of the group No to Military Trials, and delivered a short speech. “My father died a martyr and we all know who killed him,” he told the mourners. Some of the young activists in attendance began chanting anti-government and anti-army slogans, only to be silenced by family members who wanted to avoid any possible confrontation with the police. At Omar Makram on Saturday thousands of people — including many political party leaders, lawyers, journalists and hundreds of young activists — queued for more than four hours to be able to shake hands with Alaa, Sanaa, their mother Laila Soueif and other family members. Alaa was again dressed in a white prison uniform though Sanaa had been allowed to put on civilian clothes. It was probably the first time since 3 July 2013, and the removal of Mohamed Mursi as president, that leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood were keen to make a public appearance. Seif, said Mohamed Ali Beshr, a former Brotherhood minister, was “a symbol for all those who believed in human rights.” While Seif, together with his family, supported Morsi's removal, he was a vocal critic of the subsequent police crackdown on Brotherhood members, condemning the bloody dispersal of the sit-ins in Rabaa and Nahda squares in which 1,000 people were killed. As the memorial service came to an end at Omar Makram Mosque and Alaa and Sanaa were due to be escorted back to prison, many of the mourners were in tears. Sanaa was heard screaming at the two guards holding her hands not to push her. This led several activists to chant anti-government slogans. Heavily armed masked policemen cleared a path through the crowd. A number of political parties, youth movements and human rights organisations hope to use the publicity generated by the funeral and the hunger strike declared by the young prisoners to press for the release of all activists held for violating the controversial Demonstratio+n Law. Issued a year ago by then-prime minister Hazem Biblawi, the government argued that its provisions were necessary to combat the violent demonstrations held almost daily by Brotherhood supporters. But the law was soon being used to suppress all protests, including those held by secular parties and youth groups that were at the forefront of demonstrations calling for an end to Brotherhood rule on 30 June 2012. Alaa and Sanaa are due to appear in court on 10 and 13 September. Their supporters hope public pressure will secure their release on bail. In his election campaign, President Al-Sisi said he had not ruled out revising the Protest Law, widely criticized for imposing penalties of up to five years in prison and for giving the Interior Ministry the power to ban peaceful protests. He also hinted that activists who received final sentences under the law might receive presidential pardons. Alaa was arrested in December and charged with organising an unlicensed demonstration in front of the Shura Council calling for an end to civilians being tried in front of military courts. Held in jail for four months, he was released when the trial opened in April. Two months later the judge held an unscheduled early morning session, without any of the 25 defendants or their lawyers present and, in absentia, imposed 15-year sentences on all the defendants. A retrial began early last month after the defendants appealed. The judge ordered the release of all of the defendants except Alaa, Mohamed Nobi and Wael Metwalli. Sanaa was arrested in late June, along with 23 other activists, while holding a protest close to the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Heliopolis. They were calling for changes to the Protest Law and the release of Sanaa's brother. All 24 defendants were referred to trial a few days later, only for the judge to order their continued detention until the next hearing, scheduled for 13 September.
