- Title: EGYPT/CANADA: Egypt extends detention of hunger strike Canadians
- Date: 1st October 2013
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (FILE - AUGUST 16, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF OUSTED EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT MOHAMED MURSI MARCHING THROUGH CAIRO PROTESTERS MARCHING AS GUNFIRE IS HEARD GUNFIRE BEING FIRED FROM SURROUNDING BUILDINGS PROTESTERS RUNNING SMOKE FILLED AIR, PAN OF PROTESTERS IN THE STREET CLOSE UP OF BUILDING WHERE PROTESTERS CLAIM SNIPERS ARE FIRING FROM PROTESTERS S
- Embargoed: 16th October 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Canada
- Country: Canada
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAAVLHEUK17NF71RP8E8HM4LOON
- Story Text: Egypt's army-backed authorities have extended the detention of two Canadians held without charge since political clashes in mid-August as officials investigate a small remote control aeroplane and other items found in the pair's hotel room.
The Canadian government called earlier this month for Tarek Loubani, a doctor, and John Greyson, a filmmaker, to be released.
The two men, who have been on hunger strike for 13 days, face a range of charges including arson, murder, and attacking a police station which come with the allegation they participated in illegal demonstrations by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi in the city on Aug. 16.
They have been held along with hundreds of other detainees in what they say are squalid conditions in Cairo's Tora prison since and say they were on their way to Gaza to work and had gone only to observe the protests during a layover in Cairo.
Students at the University of Toronto have been demonstrating to call for their release. Family and friends of the two are concerned.
"This has been a very traumatizing experience for John's loved ones, for the people that work with him," said Brenda Longfellow, a colleague of Greyson.
A friend of the pair added he believed it was because of what they witnessed during the August 16 demonstrations that they got imprisoned:
"They said they saw 50 people killed before they lost count. Their attackers yelled that they were Canadian as they were beating them and kicking them. They were put in a hot box, they were shaved bald, and then eventually they ended up in this prison cell with 38 other prisoners," said Justin Podur.
An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman said officials had found surveillance equipment including a camera attached to a small plane during a search of their hotel room and would hold the men while investigations continued.
The men's lawyer, Marwa Farouk, said they deny all charges against them.
"As to whether they were spying or not, well what is this accusation? Today the media is allowed everywhere in the world and cameras broadcast live from around the world. No one needs a plane or a camera to spy with because this is an old concept. The media now broadcasts minute by minute what happens in the world, and there is no need for Tarek and John to film pictures that the media were themselves not able to broadcast. I think all this talk is illogical and not understandable and is not mentioned in the investigation. If these things are true why don't they accuse them in an official report? But these things are not mentioned in the prosecutors reports," she said.
According to a statement on the website http://tarekandjohn.com/ the pair were in Cairo en route to the Gaza Strip where Loubani was due to teach a medical course while Greyson made a documentary about him.
During the layover in Cairo, they went to observe the protests and were arrested that evening at a check point when they stopped to ask for directions after buying ice cream.
They were searched and beaten before being taken to Tora, where leading members of Mursi's Brotherhood are also being held.
The pair said in the website statement that they had two toy-sized helicopters with them for testing the transportation of medical samples, giving no more details.
They described prison conditions including sleeping on concrete floors with cockroaches, sharing a cell with three dozen other men, and not being allowed phone calls.
Farouk said it was possible their detention could be extended again in November.
Egypt's prosecutor general discussed the case with the Canadian ambassador in a meeting last Thursday.
At least 2,000 people, most of them Mursi supporters, have been arrested since the army ousted him on July 3 in response to mass protests against his rule.
The security forces killed hundreds of Mursi supporters on Aug. 14, when police and army moved to break up two Cairo protest camps set off after his downfall. Amnesty International says scores of those arrested since have been deprived of their basic legal rights - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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