International rights group Amnesty International today called on Egyptian authorities to immediately release more than 70 members of the Muslim Brotherhood group arrested this week less than two months ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. More than 150 Brotherhood members have been arrested since the organization's chairman, Mohamed Badie, announced earlier this month that the group will field candidates in the parliamentary elections, scheduled for 29 November. “Those arrested appear to be detained solely on account of their association with the Muslim Brotherhood organization,” said Malcolm Smart, the London-based Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa. “The arrests appear intended to disrupt Muslim Brotherhood campaigning and deter people from supporting the organization in the coming elections.” About half of those arrested have been released. The 70 still held include supporters of Muslim Brotherhood election candidates and several regional leaders of the organization, including Mohamed Sweidan of Baheira, whose detention was extended on Monday for 15 days. The arrests were made across 17 Egyptian regions, including Baheira, Qina, Aswan, Sharqiya, and Alexandria. “If the forthcoming elections are to be fair and credible, the Egyptian government must ensure that they are conducted on a ‘level playing field' and uphold the rights to freedom of association of all candidates and their supporters,” said Smart. The Muslim Brotherhood has been officially banned in Egypt since 1954. However, it has continued to operate openly and leaders and supporters of the organization have stood as independent candidates in previous parliamentary elections, in many cases successfully.
