Abul-Ezz al-Hariri, a prominent leader in the National Association for Change (NAC), who was arrested Saturday, accused security of launching a revenge campaign against those who oppose the inheritance of political power in Egypt. The attorney office of Alexandria's Moharram Beih's quarters freed al-Hariri, an ex-MP and deputy chairman of the leftist Tagammu party, early Sunday. Al-Hariri, who owns a bookshop, was accused of selling unlicensed school books which are the property of the Ministry of Education and of not having a fire extinguisher. Police confiscated books worth of LE30,000. Shortly after being freed, al-Hariri indicated to Al-Masry Al-Youm that his arrest was politically motivated. According to al-Hariri, he challenged the authorities by letting protesters gather and chant slogans against President Hosni Mubarak in front of his store on Tuesday. Police officers and plainclothes policemen, according to al-Hariri, pulled some demonstrators and activists who were then "beaten harshly, and some of them were dragged on the ground." "My two sons were arrested and my wife was harassed by the police, so I went to file a formal complaint against police brutality [after the demonstration]," al-Hariri added. Last week, security authorities arrested six Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Cairo in the latest crackdown on opponents of the regime. The NAC is led by the former head of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei.
