Egypt detains activist over 'false information' amid crackdown on dissent

Egyptian prosecutors on Tuesday ordered the detention of prominent activist Mohamed Adel for 15 days over allegations that he spread "false information and incited violence", his lawyer said.

The lawyer, Gamal Eid, who heads the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said "the prosecution did not specify the nature of the false information".

Adel was one of the founding members of the April 6 protest movement that spearheaded the 2011 uprising, which forced longtime president Hosni Mubarak from power.

In December 2013, he was handed a three-year prison term for violating a law on demonstrations, and was released early last year after serving out the sentence.

A growing number of activists have been detained in Egypt in recent months.

In May, Egyptian police arrested Hazim Abdelazim, a one-time campaigner for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who became a critic of the former military chief.

That came only days after the arrest of Egyptian blogger and journalist Wael Abbas, known for standing up against police violence.

Abbas's arrest followed that of two other bloggers earlier in the same month: Sherif Gaber and Shadi Abuzeid.

Since 2013, international human rights groups have criticised Sisi's government for cracking down on secular and left-wing activists.

The Egyptian government has rejected the accusations.

It says its priority is to reform the economy and fight "terrorism", and accuses its detractors of seeking to harm Egypt's interests.

The UN rights office this month criticised "significant escalation" in an Egyptian crackdown on social dissent, saying arbitrary detention had become a "chronic problem" in the country.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said a long line of prominent bloggers, journalists, lawyers and activists were among those detained since Egypt's General Prosecutor in February ordered prosecutors to monitor social media sites that "spread lies and fake news".