CAIRO: After several hours of prosecution at the Galaa Courthouse, 21 Kefaya detainees were released from the State Security Dhahrar prison near Abbasiya on Saturday. The Kefaya activists were arrested late Thursday night after marching in a demonstration protesting the upcoming referendum on constitutional amendments. Kefaya and other opposition groups have claimed the amendments are designed by the government to cement control under the ruling National Democratic Party. The detainees had spent two nights incarcerated in the Dhahrar station. Leftist activist Mohsen El Shoukry told The Daily Star Egypt that The [release] procedures are lengthy and sometimes take days when it comes to anything bureaucratic, not just with the releasing of prisoners. It was also feared that the detainees might be deported to the towns or villages where they were born. Sometimes prisoners tour many police stations until they are released from the police station they originally follow, which might be hundreds of kilometers away from where they live, said Kefaya lawyer and activist Wafaa El Masri. Despite the arrests and brief exchanges between protesters and the police, activists like Wael Khalil of Kefaya's Egyptian Campaign for Change deemed the demonstration successful ... While they did not prevent people from joining, police made a point of shooing away those who tried. "The only thing we want out of these protests is attention from the world, he said. "People need to know we're being oppressed. Police officials at the protest declined to comment.
