CAIRO: The Supreme State Security Prosecution office ordered on Monday the release of six men held for 80 days because of their religious beliefs. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) demanded in a press statement issued Tuesday that charges of “contempt for religion” brought against the men — adherents of the Ahmadeyya movement — be dropped. A total of nine men were arrested on March 15 by state security forces and held at various state security facilities for over six weeks before being brought before a judge. They were eventually brought before a Supreme State Security Prosecution at the end of April and charged with contempt for Islam. The men are currently being held in Tora Prison. Some of the men allege that they were tortured during police questioning. EIPR lawyers have asked that an independent investigation be opened into the allegations of torture. The supreme state security prosecution office ordered that the group of six men be released on Monday. This decision follows a previous order handed down four days earlier that the three other men detained as part of the same case be released. “Holding citizens for such a long period simply because they espouse a different faith constitutes a form of arbitrary detention, and those responsible must be held accountable,” Adel Ramadan, EIPR's legal officer, said in the press statement. “The government must comply with its international commitments not to punish or question citizens because of their religious beliefs.” Furthermore, EIPR says, questioning individuals about their religious belief constitutes a violation of the Constitution, “which protects citizens' right to espouse whatever belief they wish.” The Ahmadeyya movement was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889 and describes itself as an international revival movement within Islam. The Ahmadeyya community regards Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet, and as a result of this and other key ideological differences with mainstream Islam, many Muslims regard the movement as heretical.
