The army detained five protesters in the Egyptian Museum on Wednesday evening, arresting them as they demanded the release of thousands of Egyptians detained in military prisons. Three of those detained were later released, while two others were transferred to the military prosecution.
The two men still in custody are Mostafa Eissa and Mohamed Hussein Mohamed Ibrahim.
The small protest started in front of the Journalists’ Syndicate, where around 100 people, mostly activists and families of detainees, were protesting against the detention and torture of civilians by the military.
The small group decided to march to the museum, where large numbers of protesters were detained and tortured on Wednesday, 9 March before being transferred to military prisons.
Twenty minutes into the protest, an army officer warned protesters that they would be detained if they refused to leave. Protesters said that they would leave as soon as the two people sent into the museum to negotiate with the military come out.
Less than a minute after the officer accepted this compromise, a force of around 50 military men chased the protesters through side streets and arrested five of them.
On Wednesday last week, the military violently broken up the Tahrir strike and detained many protesters who later testified to having been severely tortured inside the Egyptian Museum. Many of the detainees, while not matching the standard profile of a thug, received severe sentences ranging from three to five years.
