[The following report appeared in the March 18 issue of Inprecor, fortnightly news bulletin of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International.]
More information has been received about the revolutionary militants who were arrested in Egypt last summer. Initial reports from the official Egyptian press had said that twenty persons had been arrested in early July 1975 and charged with being members of the International Communist League, a revolutionary Marxist organization. (See Inprecor, No. 33, September 11, 1975.) [See also Intercontinental Press, September 8, 1975, p. 1163, and March 22, 1976, p. 434.] The Egyptian press reported that the arrested militants would be charged with having made contact with the Revolutionary Communist Group in Lebanon and the Fourth International and with having organized to "overthrow the political and economic regime" in Egypt and replace it with an "extremist Trotskyist Communist regime.'
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The latest information is as follows:
The regime issued twenty-one arrest warrants. Sixteen people were arrested and imprisoned, while five of the twenty-one could not be found. One of the sixteen has been released. Ten others have been released on bail and may be arrested again at any time, although no formal charges have been placed against them. Five militants are still being held in prison. They are: Abdel Kazim Shahit Mahmoud and Muzahim Muhi el-Takriti, both of whom are Iraqi teachers; Reda Ibrahim Farag, a student; Mahmoud el-Sayid Muhammed el-Sayid, a worker; and Rashad Mansour Mustafa el-Bedawi, also a worker. These militants are still awaiting formal charges, and a long delay in the disposition of their case is possible, since the government can hold them in prison indefinitely. It is not known what penalties they may face, but a law passed in 1971 provides for sentences of up to life imprisonment for any political activity conducted outside the framework of the Arab Socialist Union, the sole legal party in the country.
The ten militants who have been released provisionally are: Dr. Muhammed Abdu Bayuni, a veterinarian; Ibrahim Abdel Azziz Azzam, a student; Muhammed el-Bashir Abdel Fu'ad el-Sibai, an employee in the Egyptian news agency; Kemal Fu'ad Nagib Muftah; Muhammed Ali Tayil, a student; Muhammed Na'man Hashim Tawfal; Randa Abdel Ghaffar el- Baasi and her brother, Najwa el-Baasi, both students; Ali Mahmoud Khalil, an employee; and Shawki Muhammed Rashad Abdel-Ghanni.
Further, it has been confirmed that Ahmad Nabil el-Hilali, a well-known Egyptian lawyer, is defending the imprisoned militants.
The meaning of the status of the militants under attack in Egypt is contradictory. On the one hand, the fact that some of the comrades have been released, even if only provisionally, shows that the Sadat regime, which is now trying to polish up its "liberal" image, is susceptible to international pressure on the question of political prisoners. On the other hand, the fact that five militants have been held in prison for more than eight months without even being formally charged indicates that the regime may well intend to hold them indefinitely, refusing to risk a political trial but also refusing to release the prisoners. It is thus clear that the fate of the comrades depends on two factors: the internal political situation in Egypt and the degree to which international solidarity is organized in their defense. The latter factor is particularly important in the case of the two Iraqi militants, who could be deported to Iraq, where they would face almost certain death at the hands of the ultrarepressive Baathist regime.
But solidarity is not purely political. Several of the imprisoned militants are workers whose families are deprived of any income as long as they are held in jail. These families are in an extremely difficult financial situation, and aid is needed. Contributions may be sent to Gisela Scholtz, Postal Account Number CCP000- 1085001-56, Brussels, Belgium. Notice of contributions should be sent to Inprecor, 76 rue Antoine Dansaert, Brussels 1000 Belgium.