FILE: Members of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis during trial
CAIRO - 12 October 2018: The Egyptian authorities have arrested an Egyptian-U.S citizen Khaled Ibrahim Ismail Hassan as per a warrant of arrest by the military prosecution over accusations of belonging to the militant group of Islamic State (IS)’ affiliate in North Sinai, Egypt’s stated-owned news Agency reported anonymous security sources on Thursday.
Hassan was arrested on May 30. He has been subjected to an interrogation since then, the sources said, adding that his remand was renewed in accordance with the state’s law.
The sources said that the dual citizen is receiving all his legal rights in detention including family visits and meetings with this lawyer, noting that Hassan was visited three times by representatives from the U.S. embassy in Cairo so far.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that Hassan was forcibly disappeared on January 8, 2018 from his brother’s apartment in Alexandria. The HRW report mentioned that he was tortured and he appeared before the military prosecution on May 3.
The security sources denied the HRW report, saying that Hassan and his lawyer did not submit a request to undergo a medical check over claims of “being tortured.” However, the HRW report mentioned that Hassan said his inmates advised him to not file a complaint or a request because the security officials will not refer it and would prolong his detention.
According to the investigations of the Egyptian prosecution, Hassan was recruited by a member of the militant group of the Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt which is known as Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province).
Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province) is an offshoot of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, which emerged in North Sinai after the 2011 upheaval, but orchestrated major attacks following the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
The government labeled the group a terrorist organization in April 2015, after it had already pledged allegiance to IS in November 2014.
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