The Alexandria-based Lazem ('Must') campaign – comprised of dozens of liberal and leftist activists – issued a statement on Monday rejecting the recent appointment of Khaled Ghoraba, Alexandria's security director, as Interior Minister Gamal El-Din's new assistant for social affairs.

Members of the campaign, which officially launched earlier this year, are also demanding that Ghoraba be tried for human rights violations.

In its statement, the campaign accused the security man of orchestrating the murder of more than 100 anti-regime protesters in Alexandria during last year's popular uprising that unseated Hosni Mubarak.

The statement also asserted that Ghoraba had been in charge of security in Alexandria when two local men – Khaled Said and Said Belal – were killed in police stations in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

The campaign also holds him responsible for the murder of two activists – Bahaa El-Senousi, a member of the Egyptian Current Party, who had been filming a protest outside the security directorate, and Sherif Sami, a passerby – late last year.

Ghoraba must be tried for these crimes, the campaign asserted, as a "first step" towards purging Egypt's interior ministry of "corrupt and brutal" elements.

"Instead of putting Ghoraba on trial, we are now seeing him rewarded for crimes he committed against unarmed people," the statement concluded.