Magdy Ahmed Hussein was arrested on Friday 25 January 1991 as he left a Cairo mosque. A former member of parliament, he is deputy secretary general of the opposition Socialist Labour Party and deputy editor of its weekly newspaper al-Sha’ab (The People). He is reported to have spoken against the war with Iraq after the Friday prayers. On the day he was arrested he was brought before the Niyaba (state prosecutor’s department) which ordered him to be kept in custody for 15 days. According to reports, Magdy Ahmed Hussein has been charged under Articles 80 and 102 of the Penal Code. In recent months there have been mass arrests of members and sympathizers of Islamic groups and among Palestinians, Iraqis and other Arab nationals living in Egypt.
