Crackdown on civil society groups now worse than under Mubarak, warn rights activists | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/content/crackdown-civil-society-groups-now-worse-under-mubarak-warn-rights-activis
The Egyptian state is intensifying its crackdown on civil society, human rights activists warned on Thursday, alleging that state abuses are now worse than under deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
Speaking at a press conference organized after police forces raided the offices of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) late Wednesday night, Bahey Eddin Hassan said that the attack is part of a “general atmosphere of oppression in Egypt.”
The director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) characterized the raid as a “warning bell” for Egyptian non-governmental organizations.
ECESR lawyer Mahmoud Belal described arriving at the group’s downtown Cairo office shortly before midnight and finding it surrounded by policemen, who prevented him from entering the building, before physically assaulting and arresting him.