CAIRO: At least 57 Muslim Brotherhood campaign volunteers were arrested on Tuesday morning as they were putting up posters for a female candidate, the country's top opposition group told Bikya Masr. It is the latest crackdown by the government in recent weeks in what many argue is an attempt to silence the Islamic group ahead of a November 28 parliament vote. An interior ministry official told Bikya Masr that those arrested had violated the Egyptian law that bans religious slogans from being part of any election campaign. The Brotherhood said the posters did not have the group's traditional “Islam is the solution” slogan, but instead simply read “God is Great” and “Thank God.” “There is no place for religion in secular elections and those that violate this law will be arrested and penalized,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media. The group confirmed on October 9 that they would run in the November vote, a move that likely spurred on the recent crackdown, Brotherhood members told Bikya Masr on Tuesday. “We expected this and there is no doubt the government is trying to dissuade us from participating in the upcoming election,” said MB member Mohamed Badr. International rights group Amnesty International issued a rare press statement on the situation of the Brotherhood members on Tuesday, demanding the Egyptian authorities release or charge the members with a recognizable crime. Since MB chairman Mohamed Badie announced publicly the groups decision to contest the election, more than 150 individuals from the group have been arrested. Around half of those detained have since been released, not counting Tuesday's new batch of Brotherhood detainees. Among those remaining detained are Muslim Brotherhood election candidates and several regional leaders of the organization, including, Mohamed Sweidan of Baheira, whose detention was yesterday extended for 15 days Mustafa al-Khouli and Essam al-Gharbawi. “Those arrested appear to be detained solely on account of their association with the Muslim Brotherhood organization,” said Malcolm Smart, 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,” he added. The Brotherhood already has 88 members within Parliament, after running as independent candidates in the 2005 election. However, if there is any hope for the group to field a presidential candidate, they need a strong showing in Parliament in order to have approval given for an independent to stand in next year's race. In June, the Brotherhood contested 14 seats in the Upper House of Parliament, or Shura Council, but none of their members – running as independents – were able to win. The MB said the government was responsible for the losses in an “unfair” and “rigged” vote. Last month, Egypt's Nobel Prize-winning democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei had called upon the people to abstain from voting telling them that cooperating with the poll process would go against “the national will” to transform Egypt into a democracy, while a boycott would de-legitimize the regime. Even former Presidential candidate and opposition party Al-Ghad chief Ayman Nour has backed the boycott, but his party would allow its members to run as independents. BM
