Egyptian opposition activist transferred to prison to await trial

Hisham Kassem’s al-Tayyar al-Hurr plans to back an opposition candidate to President el-Sisi in the next election.
Egyptian authorities have transferred prominent publisher and political activist Hisham Kassem to prison as he awaits trial on slander and verbal assault charges, his lawyer has said. Kassem is a leader of al-Tayar al-Hurr, or Free Current, a liberal group formed in June in opposition to the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is expected to run for a third term by early 2024.
Fellow al-Tayar al-Hurr organiser Gameela Ismail said the coalition intends to offer or support a candidate for the election, and that the government had been pressuring members since its formation.
Rights groups estimate tens of thousands of people have been jailed for political dissent under el-Sisi, who took power after leading the 2013 coup that overthrew the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
Kassem was detained on Sunday, soon after the release of several high-profile activists, including Ahmed Douma, last week and researcher Patrick Zaki and rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer in July.
The US Department of State welcomed the releases, but urged Egypt to release “all unjustly detained political prisoners”…
Source:aljazeera.com