Prosecutors on Saturday ordered the detention of a man whose 15-year-old son, Khaled Mohamed, was arrested two weeks ago for possessing a ruler bearing a symbol associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
The man is being investigated on charges of "inducing" his son to possess the ruler. Arrest warrants have also been issued against two teachers – Ashraf Raslan and Hamido El-Kheish – for the same reason.
"That arrest warrants [against the teachers] were issued on the basis of a testimony by the school principal, but the accusations are completely false," The boy's lawyer Amr Abdel-Maksoud told Ahram Online.
"I checked the investigations of the prosecution and I found that there is nothing against the boy's father. There is no evidence to support their claims that he 'induced' his son to possess the ruler."
The Rabaa sign has been widely used by supporters of the Brotherhood since police forcibly disbanded a protest camp supporting ousted Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi at Rabaa Al-Adawiya square in Cairo in mid-August, killing hundreds and sparking widespread unrest.
"The boy is accused of carrying a sign that incites violence and defames the armed forces. The father and the two teachers were charged on the same basis," Abdel-Maksoud added.
Mohamed was taken by police from his school in the northern Egyptian city of Kafr El-Sheikh on 25 November after a teacher noticed he had a ruler emblazoned with the Rabaa sign, a four-fingered symbol representing supporters of ousted Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi.
On Sunday, the prosecution extended his detention for 15 days pending investigations.
Lawyer Abdel-Maksoud told Ahram Online shortly after his arrest that the detention is in breach of Egypt's penal code and child law "which stipulates that a juvenile shall not be detained unless they are caught red-handed in a crime."
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the Egyptian army after millions protested his troubled one-year reign. Egypt's interim authorities have since mounted a sustained crackdown on Islamists which has seen hundreds killed and thousands arrested.
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