Amnesty International has called on Egypt to release the people detained in the September 20 demonstrations of last year, estimated then to be 4,000 people. Only little more than half of them have been released so far.

In a tweet on Sunday the organisation said that today marks the anniversary of the most extensive campaign against protesters in Egypt since General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power. “At least 4,000 people were arrested (last year), including journalists and activists, who did not even participate in the protests,” adding that “many detainees are in prison on unfounded charges related to terrorism.” In the video clip linked to the tweet, the human rights organisation referred to several activists arrested in connection with these events, including Alaa Abdelfattah, who is in pretrial detention in a Cairo prison.

Sunday marked the first anniversary of a protest called for by the former army contractor Mohamed Ali, who is outside the country, which resulted in limited numbers marching on several squares and the arrest of hundreds. Ali repeated his previous call to protest on the anniversary of September 20.