Rights groups: Egyptian-Palestinian activist must be freed

CAIRO – Three human rights groups are urging Egyptian authorities to immediately release an Egyptian-Palestinian activist who was arrested last month for alleged ties with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The International Federation for Human Rights, The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the World Organization Against Torture released a statement Friday denouncing the arrest of 48-year-old Rami Shaath, who helped establish Egypt’s branch of the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel, known as BDS.

The statement quoted CIHRS’s Leslie Piquemal as saying that Shaath, the son of a prominent Palestinian politician, was “arbitrarily detained for his legitimate and peaceful activities.”

Shaath’s family has said he was added to a case that includes a former lawmaker and key secular activists arrested in June for allegedly plotting violence with wanted Brotherhood members in Turkey.