Three leading human rights activists arrested in Egypt as security forces crackdown

Under arrest, accused of joining a terror group and spreading false news, three of Egypt’s leading human rights activists are now being detained as security forces step up their crackdown against civil rights groups.

Since Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power during a military coup in 2013, journalists and human rights organisations have regularly been targeted by the authorities.

Karim Ennarah, who heads the criminal justice unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights was arrested last week along with two of his colleagues – shortly after the organisation had met foreign diplomats in Cairo.

Mr Ennarah’s London-based wife Jessica Kelly had been hoping to join him in Egypt after they got married, but almost two months later she’s still in the UK without him.