CAIRO: Lawmakers Sabri Amer and Ragab Abu Zaid were released from detention on LE 10,000 bail on Thursday, one day after their arrest in a midday raid on their Menufiya homes and accused of " terrorism and possession of banned materials related to their membership of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Hamdi Hassan, the spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in the lower house of parliament, the People's Assembly, welcomed the release of both men but called their arrests politically motivated. "MPs affiliated with the ruling National Democratic Party don't face any legal action, although they commit moral crimes, he said. "We find that MPs affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood are detained only for their political affiliations. Both Amer and Abu Zaid were previously arrested on May 9 at a Menufiya meeting to plan for the elections to Egypt's upper house of parliament, the Shoura Council. At that time Amer and Abu Zaid were released because their parliamentary immunity protected them from prosecution. Shortly after their release in May, the PA voted to revoke their immunity and open a criminal investigation against them. But neither man was subpoenaed before this week's arrests, which MB sources say were conducted without a warrant. The Brotherhood is Egypt's most influential opposition group, and holds 88 seats in the 454 member PA. Brotherhood sources argue that the recent wave of arrests are a response to the group's plans to register as an official political party, in defiance of constitutional amendments passed in March that forbid political activity based on religion. More than 600 members of the group have been detained since December, when students in an MB youth group staged a kung fu-themed demonstration at Al Azhar University which the regime condemned as a militia exercise. The crackdown has not only focused on the group's youth cadres, but has ensnared many of the Brotherhood's key leaders as well. Forty of the group's top financiers, including Deputy Chairman Khayrat El Shater, are currently standing trial before a military court on charges of money laundering and membership of a banned organization. Their case has attracted condemnation from human rights advocates around the world. Additionally, Essam El Erian, a well-known Brotherhood spokesman and coordinator of the group's political department, was detained along with 15 others in a raid on the Giza home of businessman Nabil Moqbel last week. They stand charged with membership of a banned organization and working against the public interest, although no trial date has yet been set.
