On Sunday Amnesty International responded to the State Information Service (SIS) statement and called on Egypt to end its crackdown on political opponents.
The SIS issued a statement attacking Amnesty International, describing its handling of Egypt as a flagrant contradiction.
This came in response to a tweet by Amnesty International which described the closure of metro stations leading to Tahrir Square in conjunction with the demonstrations last Friday as a “violation of freedom of movement and peaceful assembly.”
The SIS said that “the closure of the metro stations was due to maintenance and is not a violation of freedom of movement.”
The SIS cited other countries that had carried out similar measures: “France, a country of rights and freedoms, closed dozens of metro stations and the express train in the capital Paris in conjunction with the demonstrations of the yellow vests movement.”
Amnesty International said it had already criticised excessive restrictions by the French authorities against freedom of movement and assembly.
The international human rights watchdog called on the Egyptian authorities to focus on ending the crackdown that has turned Egypt into an open prison for critics, rather than criticising human rights organisations that highlight abuses in Egypt.
Amnesty International confirmed that the wave of arrests in Egypt continues and that the number of detainees has reached more than 2,200, most recently with the arrest of the activist and former detainee Alaa Abdel Fattah on Sunday morning. Prior to his arrest Abdel Fattah was spending half a day in a police station every day under the terms of his probation.
