Political activists discussed on different social networking websites on Monday a prisoner rebellion at the Hike Step military prison over military trials and their alleged mistreatment at the hands of prison authorities.
A military source, however, denied to Al-Masry Al-Youm any reports of rioting at the prison, claiming that a limited number of “thugs” set two blankets on fire, but were quickly reprimanded.
The internet media buzzed on Monday with reports that prison inmates had attempted to break out, while security forces fired in the air to try to stop them.
Activists from the No Military Trials for Civilians group said that some people who have been detained pending investigations protested at the prison on Monday afternoon to reject putting civilians on military trials. The group also alleged that some prisoners have been tortured.
An official military source denied that any prisoners were tortured, adding that the protests have now ended and the situation is calm.
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), military courts have sentenced at least 10,000 civilians since January.
HRW had earlier asked Egypt to speedily review the laws used by former President Hosni Mubarak to muzzle his opponents, saying that it was unacceptable for the military to use these laws to suppress freedom of expression as parliamentary elections draw closer.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
