Military police on Saturday returned an army soldier accused of participating in pro-democracy protests from a mental hospital in Maadi to a military prison in Nasr City.
Officer Mohamed Tarek al-Wadie had been detained along with other members of the military for taking part in pro-democracy protests in April 2011. Activists have since then urged military authorities to set them free.
President Mohamed Morsy said Friday that 21 soldiers had already been released, and that five others would be freed soon.
Mohamed al-Rayyes, a lawyer representing the detained officers, described Wadie's transfer back to the military prison as an attempt by authorities to increase psychological pressure on him.
Rayyes said that his client lost hope after Morsy issued a general amnesty for people detained during events that followed the January 2011 revolution.
“I was informed by Wadie’s father that a prison warden told his son he would never be freed,” Rayyes said.
The lawyer called for the president to intervene for Wadie’s release, warning that the officer’s mother is on her 10th day of a hunger strike.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
