Members of Jama’a al-Islamiya demanded that President Mohamed Morsy release 15 members of the group who are imprisoned on charges from former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.
Founding member Refae Taha also criticized allegations that pardoned Jama’a al-Islamiya members were behind the Sinai military checkpoint attack last month.
"It is impossible for any Islamic movement to commit such a criminal act, because the armed forces has always [sided] with the Egyptian people and the Islamic movement," he said during a conference in the town of Armant in Luxor Monday.
Taha also described the group as being a principle catalyst in the revolution to oust Mubarak.
“Nobody stood in the face of the ousted regime like [our] group, which [faced fabricated] charges against many of its members,” he said.
Describing Facebook as a “soldier of Allah,” Taha continued, "The group went on many demonstrations against the regimes of Sadat and Mubarak, while the media was banned from covering such protests in the absence of [modern] communication tools. When Facebook came, Mubarak was ousted in 18 days."
Taha also alleged that "members of the army and the police had heroic stances siding with Jama'a al-Islamiya before and after the assassination of [former President Anwar] Sadat." He claimed to have hid in the house of a high-ranking police officer in Armant for 15 days.
