CAIRO: Twenty-seven-year-old Esraa Abdel Fattah is being detained for 15 days pending investigation for her role in the April 6 general strike Her lawyer Amir Salem told Daily News Egypt that she is accused of being the mastermind behind the April 6 strike. Abdel Fattah, who is also a member of Al-Ghad party, was detained and accused of organizing the strike by creating a group on the social networking website Facebook, where messages were posted calling for a nationwide general strike. Salem said thousands of other Facebook users called for a strike in protest of skyrocketing prices. In the days leading up to the strike, anti-government groups sent mobile phone messages and emails to people around the country to hold protests, stay home from work, avoid shopping, wear black clothes and hang the Egyptian flag from windows and balconies in a show of support for the strikers. While Salem has no doubt of Abdel Fattah's innocence, he does believe she is "more likely to be found guilty and receive a jail sentence. The government is currently looking for anyone to blame for the protests that have been taking place across the country by workers in different sectors over the last few months, he said. The media, he added, is partly to blame for Abdel Fattah's arrest because they portrayed her as a political activist. Abdel Fattah was taken into custody from a coffee shop near her workplace in Nasr City and is being detained at the Qasr El-Nil district attorney's office pending investigation. Sources in Al-Ghad political party said that Abdel Fattah is not "one of the most politically active members of the party, and that she is more interested in the educational and cultural aspects of the party. When contacted by Daily News Egypt, Abdel Fattah's family refused to talk, citing their concern that the case might worsen.
