Egypt arrests brothers of Turkey-based opposition activist 'as punishment for criticism'

Egyptian authorities have arrested two brothers of a Turkey-based rights activist and charged them with joining an outlawed group and spreading fake news.

Egyptian state security agents arrested Ghada Naguib's brothers Islam, a 17-year-old high school student, and Youssef, 27, from their Cairo home on 29 July, Naguib told Al-Jazeera last week.

Local newspaper Al-Dostor reported on Tuesday that state prosecutors have ordered the 15-day detention of Naguib's brothers for questioning.

The outlet said, citing a judicial source, that the pair have been implicated in a class action lawsuit known in the Egyptian media as "the Muslim Brotherhood media axis case".

The case includes chief editor of independent news Masr Al-Arabia arrested in April for publishing false news and blogger Wael Abbas who was arrested in May, according to Al-Dostor.

Naguib, who fled Egypt in 2015 over threats from authorities, has accused authorities of arresting her brothers to punish her for her political activism and criticism of the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

She has said her brothers are not politically active.

Naguib is married to Hisham Abdallah, a journalist with Turkey-based opposition channel Al-Sharq.

A growing number of activists and journalists critical of the regime have been detained in Egypt in recent months.

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

The government has banned unauthorised protests and jailed thousands of people since 2013 in a massive crackdown on dissent that followed the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Sisi has warned that foreign-based media figures "will be held accountable", while lawmakers have mulled banning their return and having their nationality stripped.