A number of Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary candidates on Saturday complained of continued security harassment in their constituencies. The Brotherhood members, at a conference hosted by the Lawyers Syndicate freedoms committee, also enumerated several obstacles they had to overcome to successfully obtain candidacy applications. Mohamed al-Beltagy, secretary general for the group's parliamentary bloc, reported several actions of maltreatment against him and his supporters. Seven Brotherhood members, according to al-Beltagy, were detained in Qalyubiya Governorate in recent days. In response he filed a complaint to the governorate's prosecutor general's office. Al-Beltagy also claimed security forces raided his home, while governorate authorities distributed malicious leaflets focused on his candidacy. In light of these accusations, al-Beltagy expressed concern that the upcoming poll will lack transparency. Brotherhood candidate for the Aims Shams, Cairo district, Ahmed Ramy, said security prevented him from communicating with his constituency at a time when other candidates were permitted to do so. The authorities justified the move, according to Ramy, by claiming the campaign process had yet to commence. Sayyid Gad, MB nominee for Matariya, Cairo, said security agents stormed a number of stores owned by his supporters and confiscated goods worth of tens of thousands of Egyptian pounds. Brotherhood's lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said the number of currently detained members has now reached 361, adding that 106 Brotherhood-owned businesses have been shut down and 1650 false police complaints have been filed against other Brotherhood-run enterprises. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
