Kuwait deports three Egyptian dissidents to Cairo: Report
Kuwait has deported to Cairo three Egyptians who showed support for protests against President Abdel Fattah el Sisi, according to Kuwaiti newspaper al-Qabas.
On Monday, the paper cited senior Kuwaiti sources as saying that the Kuwaiti national security apparatus had handed over three Egyptian residents to the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) over charges of “incitement to chaos and calls for protests through social media”.
“Senior sources said that these defendants launched an intense campaign recently to incite Egyptians to turn on the regime and demonstrate against the government of their country,” the report read.
“After collecting all information, a State Security Investigations Division was formed and arrested them in Farwaniya governorate, and after the investigations were completed, they were handed over to the Egyptian Interpol.”
According to the paper, there has been “intense coordination between Kuwaiti security authorities and their Egyptian counterparts within the framework of joint agreements for the exchange of criminals”.
Egypt has been witnessing nationwide protests against Sisi since 20 September, which marked the first anniversary of the biggest anti-government protests the country has witnessed in the past five years.
The protests erupted in more than 40 villages across Egypt, and continued for more than a week, despite an ongoing police crackdown targeting the wave of unrest.
The protests broke out in response to a call by exiled whistleblower Mohamed Ali, who ignited protests at the same time last year after his video testimonies exposing corruption by the president and his entourage went viral.
Security services have detained at least 1,943 people since the start of the recent protests, according to the latest tally by human rights lawyer Khaled Ali, while at least 4,000 were detained in last year's crackdown, according to Amnesty International.
A Middle East Eye investigation last year revealed that Egyptian authorities were using the international policing body Interpol to target political opponents of Sisi abroad.
Citing a series of cases, the MEE report showed Egyptian attempts to extradite exiled dissidents using Interpol's red notice and diffusion alert systems, which allows member states to request the arrest of alleged criminals who have fled abroad.
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