Egyptian authorities have detained at least 73 campaign volunteers for a challenger to incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in the December election, a rights group said Tuesday.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said the detainees were volunteers working for presidential hopeful and critic Ahmed Altantawy. The dozens of supporters face a variety of charges including joining a terrorist group—government parlance for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood—and spreading false news. Seven of them remained in detention as of Monday, the group said.
Egypt’s chairman of the National Election Authority, Waleed Hamza, on Monday announced details of elections due by next year, saying the presidential polling would be held over three days in December. The outcome is widely anticipated to be a foregone conclusion in favor of the incumbent el-Sissi.
The former defense minister has led the country since 2014 and has faced criticism from the West over his country’s human rights record and crackdown on political dissent.
Altantawy has previously complained that Egyptian security agencies have harassed his campaign staff and family, and also claimed that authorities have spied on him through cutting-edge technology.
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