2 Egyptian Facebook admins arrested after 'calling for protests' on 25 Jan
Ahram Online, , Wednesday 13 Jan 2016
The suspects are accused of setting up Facebook pages calling for protests on the anniversary of the 25 January 2011 revolution


Egypt's security forces arrested two Facebook administrators who are allegedly behind 47 pages on the social media website that "incite against the country's institutions" and "call for protests on the anniversary of the 25 January 2011 revolution," state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday.

The two suspects are a 25-year-old man from Giza and a 21-year-old woman from Upper Egypt's Minya governorate.

Both defendants admitted to being members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, according to MENA.

Their laptops and mobile phones, used to access the Facebook pages, were seized.

The two are expected to be questioned by the prosecution, charged and referred to court.

Earlier this month, security forces, who say they are fearful of outbreak of violent protests on the 5 th anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, arrested three people who allegedly called for demonstrations on that day on their Facebook pages.

In recent days, the authorities have also arrested a number of activists and charged them with calling for illegal protests on the anniversary of the january uprising, including several 6 of April members and one of the co-founders of the anti-Morsi movement Tamarod.

Protesting without a permit from authorities was banned by a decree passed in November 2013.

Thousands of violators of the decree, mostly supporters of ousted Islamist president mohamed morsi but also many non-islamists - have faced heavy fines and prison sentences of up five years since the law was passed.

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