Egypt Releases Human Rights Group Staff Members From Prison

Egypt released from prison staff members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a human rights group. The three staff members released on Thursday had been held since early November on charges of joining a terror group and spreading false news after a public meeting with foreign diplomats. The group tweeted on Thursday that the staff members, including director Gasser Abdel Razek, were “now either home or on the way home,” and called the release from Tora prison “unusual.” The release comes after a concerted international campaign to release the activists, including by world leaders and celebrities. Both President Donald Trump and Antony Blinken, who is nominated to serve as secretary of state by President-elect Joe Biden, expressed concern about the arrests. EIPR is an independent human rights group whose work covers a variety of political, civil, economic and social issues. The arrests were part of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s crackdown on political dissent.