6 April movement logo (Photo: Al-Ahram)
A New Cairo court has ordered the release of four members of the April 6 Youth Movement who were arrested in March after a protest outside the house of the minister of interior, although it is unclear whether or not the charges against them have been dropped.
On 29 March, the youth movement held a protest at the house of Minister Mohamed Ibrahim in New Cairo, holding underwear and banners accusing the ministry of "prostituting" itself to the regime.
The protest was dispersed by security forces by force and four members of the movement – Mohamed Mostafa, Zizo Abdu, Mamdouh Abu Adam and Siyad Mounir – were arrested. They were charged with rioting and resisting authorities.
Khaled El-Masry, the head of the movement’s media office, told Ahram’s Arabic language website that the decision to release the detainees comes without any bail conditions.
"We do not yet know if it is a permanent release or if it is temporary," he said. It is unclear whether the case will go to trial in the future.
El-Masry also denied reports that an arrest warrant was issued for founder of the movement Ahmed Maher earlier Monday in the same case.
"The news is untrue and up to this moment, Maher has not received any arrest warrant," said El-Masry.
The release of the April 6 members came after a number of protests by the group calling on the authorities to free them.
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