The Egyptian authorities launched an arrest campaign against dozens of people, most of them accused of belonging to the "Muslim Brotherhood", banned in Egypt, according to an Egyptian human rights defender.
Mahmoud Jaber, director of the Adalah Foundation for Human Rights (a non-governmental organization outside Egypt), told Anadolu Agency, on Wednesday, that "there have been arrests of dozens, most of them accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood."
He added that the Foundation is conducting a careful inventory of the arrests that occurred in some governorates during the past five days, and no statement was issued by the Muslim Brotherhood or the Egyptian authorities regarding this.
However, the "Watan" channel, speaking on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood and broadcasting from outside Egypt, said, Tuesday, on its Facebook page, that the authorities in Egypt "are launching a massive arrest campaign, in conjunction with the approaching anniversary of the tenth January 25 revolution," without details .
This anniversary comes in light of international criticism of the human rights file in Egypt, with observers expecting that criticism to escalate after Joe Biden takes over the US presidency 5 days before the anniversary of the revolution that toppled the regime of the late President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.
The Egyptian authorities usually reject such criticisms, and say they are committed to protecting and promoting respect for human rights principles.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt faced many crises, including the arrest and banning of senior leaders in the group, months after the overthrow of the late President Mohamed Morsi, who belonged to it, on July 3, 2013.
The Egyptian authorities classify the Brotherhood as a "terrorist" group, and exclude dialogue or reconciliation with it, and prosecute leaders and cadres of it over terrorism-related charges that the group denies.