A Cairo-based terrorist group, called Revolutionary Punishment published on Wednesday a video depicting the killing of a man in Helwan, who was murdered for cooperating with the security services against protesters. The man, Walid Ahmed Ali, allegedly worked for the Helwan police, and reported the organizers and leaders of protests in Helwan to authorities. According to the video, he was responsible for the arrest of forty members of the group. The victim was killed with an automatic rifle, while an ISIS-related song, called Saleel al-Sawarem, played in the background. The group added that other similar attacks against policemen would be carried out. [Egypt Independent, 6/25/2015]
POLITICS
Borhamy demands release of 3,000 Nour Party members
Yasser Borhamy, vice president of the Salafi Call, has demanded the release of 3,000 young members of the group’s political wing, the Nour Party. He says they have been imprisoned without clear charges. Borhamy called on security services to distinguish between people involved in violent acts and those who were not. He said the young Salafis, like many others, were sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood in the beginning, but later changed their minds. “The government should protect them from falling for extremism,” he said. Party sources said Borhamy is sending the names of the imprisoned members to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to include in a pardon. [Egypt Independent, 6/25/2015]
Also of Interest
- Egypt can face threats if Egyptians unite: Sisi | Ahram Online
- Dostour Party halts internal elections over voters’ database issue | DNE
- Differences over media-related legislation | Egypt Independent
- State Commissioners recommends dual citizens banned from owning Sinai lands | Cairo Post
COURTS
Convicted Islamic show host acquitted of separate blasphemy charge
A misdemeanor court acquitted on Wednesday Islamic show host Islam al-Beheiry of the charge of being in contempt of religion. The plaintiff had sued Beheiry and the owner of the satellite channel where his show is broadcast, accusing them of insulting religion. The show host was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison last month for the same charge. He appealed the verdict and was released on bail. Beheiry faces a third trial for the same charge, filed before the Administrative Court by the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar. [Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, 6/24/2015]
Brotherhood leaders investigated for inciting security personnel murders
Two senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Abdel Rahman al-Barr, Mahmoud Ghozlan and twelve others have been detained for fifteen days, over accusations of instigating the murder of army and policemen. According to investigators, Barr and Ghozlan are linked to the murder of Wael Tahoun, a senior Cairo security detective, who was shot dead outside his residence in April. A suspect in Tahoun’s assassination case reportedly confessed that the pair had financed “the terrorist cell” behind the operation. Ghozlan and Barr, who were arrested on June 2, however denied the accusations. [Egypt Independent, 6/25/2015]
Business tycoon Hussein Salem pays government back, embezzlement charge dropped
Egyptian-Spanish fugitive business tycoon Hussein Salem has reached a final agreement with the Egyptian government in a profiteering case, Youm7 reported. Authorities reportedly agreed to drop Salem’s charges of embezzling $41 million in exchange for a payment from his frozen funds, as well as an agreement that he and his son would cede their frozen profits, an anonymous judicial source said Wednesday. The amount of money Salem paid has yet to be disclosed. [Cairo Post, 6/25/2015]
Also of Interest
- Al-Jazeera journalists retrial adjourned to June 29 | Cairo Post
- 54 sentenced to prison in absentia by military tribunal | Aswat Masriya
- Brotherhood members sentenced to jail in Suez over violence, breaking protest law | Egypt Independent
- Zawahiri’s lawyers say evidence in terrorist cell trial had been tampered with | Egypt Independent
- Safwat al-Sherif and sons’ illicit gains trial postponed to August 23 | Egypt Independent
ECONOMY
New Egypt loans reportedly conditional on using $5 billion in loans for intended purpose
Egypt has been denied fresh loans by international lenders for failing to use past loans for their intended purpose, according to a source from Egypt’s presidency. The source said donor countries, funds and international banks, including the African Development Bank, have made new loans conditional on the government’s use of previous loans, worth more than $5 billion, toward the improvement of housing, health, and infrastructure services. The source claimed that, of that amount, only US$1.8 billion had been used for those projects. The presidency had asked several government ministries, including the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, to provide an explanation about the alleged failure to use the loans for their intended purpose. [Egypt Independent, 6/25/2015]
Egypt’s EGAS to conduct Mediterranean’s largest seismic exploration project
Egypt’s state-owned gas company EGAS announced that it will carry out the largest seismic oil and gas exploration project in the Mediterranean, as it seeks data that could attract global exploration companies. EGAS said it has signed a deal with Norwegian seismic surveyor PGS to conduct two and three-dimensional scans in the western zone of Egypt’s territorial Mediterranean waters. It did not mention the value of the deal. According to EGAS, the deal is part of a plan to increase Egypt’s domestic production of natural gas by intensifying search and exploration operations and conducting international auctions in areas that have not previously been explored. [Reuters, 6/25/2015]
Also of Interest
- Egypt’s draft budget slows fiscal reform, a credit negative: Moody’s | Ahram Online
- Cabinet to postpone increasing metro ticket prices | Egypt Independent
- Egypt stocks sink as Ezz Steel tumbles; Saudi barely moves | Reuters
- Egypt’s transport minister temporarily takes over oil portfolio | Reuters
- Egypt’s cost of importing gas in FY 2015/2016 at $2.25 billion | DNE
SOCIETY & MEDIA
Detainee Taweel’s sister concerned over ‘inadequate’ health care conditions in prison
During her visit to her detained sister Esraa, Doa’a al-Taweel said: “If my sister stays for one more month without physiotherapy she will paralyzed again.” Esraa al-Taweel was forcibly disappeared for three weeks before appearing in Qanater Women’s Prison after investigations at the state security court without clear charges. Doa’a visited her sister on Tuesday and said that Esraa was taking physiotherapy sessions for a year and half to recover from an injury she received whilst covering the third anniversary of 25 January Revolution. She added: “The cell where she is detained is very crowded and it makes her suffer breathing problems as has up to thirty-eight prisoners, all on criminal charges.” [DNE, 6/24/2015]
Residents in Egypt’s Sharqiya lynch man for digging up corpse
Dozens of Sharqiya residents have lynched and killed a thirty-year-old man for trying to steal a corpse in Nile Delta’s Sharqiya, Ahram has reported. The mob’s victim allegedly tried to unearth the freshly buried body of a doctor in the village of Tarot in Sharqiya’s Zagazig. According to the police’s investigations, the deceased had been stealing bodies and selling them. When the residents caught him in the act, they beat him to death. [Ahram Online, 6/24/2015]
Also of Interest
- Church cancels ‘iftar for national unity’ to donate to Long Live Egypt | Ahram Online
- CIHRS renews call for dialogue with authorities | DNE
- Drinking water shortages in several governorates | Egypt Independent
- Company breaches agreement with ministry, disburses 10-month bonus to workers | Egypt Independent
- Beni Suef explosion survivor dies in hospital | DNE
- Two Egyptians arrested in Delta for joining Syrian Free Army | Cairo Post
INTERNATIONAL
Cameron hopes to welcome Sisi in Britain, strengthen ties
President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call from British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday afternoon, during which Cameron repeated his hope to welcome Sisi on a visit to his country, Aswat Masriya reported. The presidential office said in a statement that Britain hoped the visit would strengthen ties between the countries, as well provide an opportunity to discuss regional and international issues. Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said the call also discussed the current Libyan crisis, and ways to find balanced political solutions to it. Meanwhile, Britain’s Ambassador to Egypt John Casson met with Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghaffar on Tuesday to discuss “a number of security issues of common concern.” Casson told Daily News Egypt on Wednesday: “I share the Minister’s commitment to strengthening the UK-Egypt partnership. Security is a vital foundation for the more secure, prosperous, and democratic Egypt we all want to see. That means tough security measures, countering extremist ideology, and progress on the economy, democracy and human rights, which are essential for long-term security.” [Ahram Online, Cairo Post, 6/25/2015]
Also of Interest
- 1,158 Palestinians enter Gaza from Egypt in three days | Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya
- Egyptian security forces prevent migrants entering Libya | Ahram Online
- Egypt wins seat on UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission | Ahram Online
- HRW tells Germany to investigate Al Jazeera journalist’s detention | DNE
- Shoukry discusses European Neighborhood Policy in Beirut | DNE
- Twenty-eight Egyptian illegal migrants deported from Italy | Egypt Independent