Egyptian online satirist arrested for 'inciting protests', 'insulting state'

Ahram Online , Saturday 7 May 2016

Street Children
Ezz El-Din, third from left, poses in a photo with the rest of Street Children's members. (Photo: Courtesy of the band's Facebook page)

A member of an Egyptian performance band, whose online videos are often critical of the regime, was arrested Saturday and is now facing charges.

On its Facebook page, Atfal Shawaree, or Street Children, announced that Ezz El-Din, who appears to be the youngest of the band's six members, was arrested from his home at dawn before being transferred to prosecution.

Prosecutors accused him of "inciting protests" and "uploading videos insulting state institutions," before ordering his detention for four days pending investigation.

Atfal Shawaree’s satirical one-shot videos, which are a few minutes in length and are shot in the street, usually mock the rhetoric of supporters of the regime.

Some of their videos also contained revolutionary messages, such "the interior ministry [are] thugs" and "the revolution continues."

The group's videos have recently grown in popularity, and their Facebook page has over 220,000 likes.

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