The four doctors named above, two of whom hold office in Egypt’s national medical association, were arrested in January 1995 in connection with their membership of the Muslim Brothers. This organization is officially banned but in practice tolerated; it has condemned the violence perpetrated by radical Islamist groups. Members of the Muslim Brothers are dominant within the Medical Syndicate and several other professional organizations. Twenty-three other members of the movement were arrested on the same day. AI has received reports suggesting that the reason for their arrest was that they had begun to campaign for the November 1995 parliamentary elections. AI considers the four men named above to be prisoners of conscience.
