Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat has referred eight founders of the Belady Foundation, a local NGO dedicated to helping children rise out of poverty, to the Cairo Criminal Court.
The defendants are currently being held pending trial on charges of human trafficking, abduction of children, child molesting and forcing children to participate in demonstrations of a political nature in return for money such as a demonstration of the April 6 Movement, calling for the release of certain members who violated the protest law.
The organization, according to its website was inspired by the values instilled by the 25 January revolution, whose motto was "bread, freedom and social justice."
Investigators claim the defendants formed a gang to attract street children fleeing from parental abuse and detain them in the premises of an unlicensed foundation in Bab El Louk, Cairo.
They allegedly forced the children to appear in a video clip taking drugs and begging for help and showed the clip to people to sympathize and donate money for them.
Following the July 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsy, the new government has been critical of people or organizations linked to the political opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the April 6 Movement, both of which were banned by law and any involvement in which is now considered criminal activity.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
