Egyptian police have arrested a prominent rights lawyer after protests in Cairo rattled President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government and ushered in an escalating crackdown on dissidents.
Plain-clothed policemen arrested Malek Adly, a vocal opponent of the government, late yesterday, his lawyer Mahmoud Belal said.
Adly had supported protests in April against the handing over of two islands to Saudi Arabia, which provoked outrage in Egypt and accusations that Sisi "sold" them in return for Saudi investments.
Police arrested dozens of activists ahead of an April 25 protest, hoping to forestall the repeat an earlier rally in Cairo in which more than a thousand people chanted for "the fall of the regime".
A continuing crackdown after the protest, which police quickly dispersed, led to a confrontation with the powerful Journalists' Syndicate after police raided its headquarters to arrest two reporters.
The two journalists were wanted in the same case as Adly, on suspicion of "attempting to topple the ruling system" and "spreading false news", a prosecution official said.
The official said Adly has been remanded in custody for two weeks, which the prosecution may extend.
He is also accused of joining a "group aimed at annulling the constitution", the official said.
Belal said Adly's lawyers had asked the prosecution service to elaborate on the accusations.
"We asked them 'what is that group, what is it called, or who are its members?' There were no answers to these questions," Belal said.
He said the "false news" they are accused of spreading amounts to Adly's contention that the Straits of Tiran islands handed to Saudi Arabia rightfully belonged to Egypt.
Sisi defended his decision to hand over the islands, saying they were Saudi to begin with and were leased to Egypt in the 1950s.
The former army chief come to power after toppling his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013, unleashing a crackdown on his supporters that killed hundreds of protesters and imprisoned thousands.
Sisi, who was elected in 2014, had been feted by millions of Egyptians who opposed Morsi's rule and welcomed a firm leader at the helm to revive the country's economy.
