The Qasr al-Nil prosecution decided on Thursday to detain a total of 61 people for four days pending investigations on charges including "inciting protests", related to anti-goverment protests planned for April 25.
The other charges include, "inciting the use of force to overthrow the ruling regime; inciting attacks on police stations; using violence and threats to keep the president from working at the duties constitutionally assigned to him; joining a terrorist organization with the purpose of obstructing laws; preventing authorities from exercising their work; and harming public peace."
A security source previously told Aswat Masriya that police arrested 270 protesters from Cairo and Giza on Monday April 25, which coincided with Sinai National Liberation day.
Various political groups and movements held small marches in Cairo and Giza against the Saudi-Egypt border demarcation agreement, signed on April 8, which stipulates that two disputed Red Sea islands, Tiran and Sanafir, are part of Saudi territorial waters.
On April 15, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the press syndicate under the slogan "Friday of the land" to protest against what they described as "the sale of Egypt". By the end of the day, protesters announced their plans to demonstrate again on April 25.
The agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the parliament, has provoked public ire in Egypt and has come under heavy scrutiny by many Egyptians who argue that the islands are Egyptian territory.
The islands are located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba and are strategically significant as they control maritime activity in the gulf.
A few days prior to April 25, security forces launched a series of raids on downtown Cairo’s cafés and arrested at least 40 people, some of whom remain in detention while others are under investigation.
