Egypt detains opposition figure Abol Fotouh ahead of presidential election

Egyptian forces have arrested a former presidential candidate who has called for a boycott of the upcoming presidential elections as Cairo speeds up its repression campaign against those challenging President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s reelection bid.

Egypt’s state security prosecution ordered the arrest of Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh and several leaders of his Strong Egypt party on Wednesday, state news agency MENA reported.

Officials suggested that Abul Fotouh, a candidate in the 2012 presidential election, had contacts with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Several Egyptian media outlets reported that the prominent opposition figure will be charged with communicating with Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood movement and inciting to topple the government.

Abol Fotouh, who has called for a boycott of the presidential elections in March, was one of the top presidential candidates in the country’s first elections after the 2011 uprising, taking about 18 percent of the first round vote.

Last week, his deputy in the Strong Egypt Party, Mohamed al-Qassas, was detained and is being held pending an investigation, according to the party’s Facebook page.

The party denounced the arrest and criticized what it called “the systematic targeting of the opposition politicians” in a post earlier this week.

In January 2017, Abol Fotouh called on Sisi to step down, condemning his policies and the state the country was in.

SS