CAIRO
A group of Egyptian activists will mark February 22 as an international day for solidary with what they describe as "political detainees" in Egypt.
"We have launched a campaign to mark February 22 as an international day for solidarity with political prisoners in Egypt," the activists who belong to a group calling itself the "Revolution's Oath" said in a statement, a copy of which was attained by Anadolu Agency.
The activists called on what they describe as "honest Egyptians" to join hands "to protect the dignity of Egyptians against oppression, torture and injustice".
"There are 22,000 prisoners in Egypt at a time the country is passing through a critical juncture during which thousands of families are suffering," the group alleged.
The group, however, did not explain the source of the alleged number of "political prisoners" in Egypt.
"The detainees are subject to untold humiliation and systematic oppression," the activists alleged.
The government, however, says that there are no political detainees in Egyptian prisons.
"They are not political detainees," Assistant Interior Minister for Prisons Section Mohamed Naguib told AA.
"All those people are detained for criminal charges," he said.
"We always seek to apply the law to everybody," he said. "We follow human rights standards in all jails."
The top security official denied applying any exceptional measures against Muslim Brotherhood leaders and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
"All reports in this regard are inaccurate," he said.
Egypt has launched a massive crackdown on the Brotherhood since the July 3 ouster of democratically elected Morsi, arresting thousands of supporters for incitement-to-violence charges.
By Islam Mosaad
englishnews@aa.com.tr
