A lawsuit has been filed against two members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) for their alleged role in the torture of civilians during protests in Damanhour on 25 November last year.

Lawyer Mohamed Abdelaziz filed the lawsuit under Articles 280 and 282 of the penal code. Article 280 provides for an undefined jail sentence and a fine of no more than LE 200 for the illegal arrest of an individual, while Article 282 states that individuals who torture someone who was arrested without legal grounds are liable to serve a prison sentence in a high-security prison.

According to a statement released by the Nadeem Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture the Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdullah has referred the case against Mustafa Rushdie Al-Khouli, a member of the administrative office of the Muslim Brotherhood in Shubra, and Mohamed Abdel Radi Abdel Hamid, a leading figure in the Freedom and Justice Party, to the criminal court.

According to the statement both men are accused of unlawfully detaining and torturing several civilians inside the Brotherhood headquarters in Damanhour for several hours, beating the detainees with sticks and using electric shock torture.

Abdelaziz represents three victims in the case; Mustafa Faraj Saqr, Mohamed Mansour Morsi and Mahmoud Ali Sahin. All three are students say they were taken into the Brotherhood headquarters after being captured by its members.

Mohamed Soudan, an FJP spokesperson, slammed what he called “thugs” for attacking the Damanhour headquarters. According to him a group of Black Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist and Al-Dostour Party members were attacking the headquarters and in the ensuing chaos injured several Brotherhood and FJP members.

“Our people were trying to protect their offices,” Soudan said. “When the thugs attacked they tried to raid the property and steal things. Many of our people were injured and after a while three of the attackers went to the police station and filed a report accusing our members of torture.”

Soudan said the FJP was aware of the case but have as of yet not received any summons by the prosecution to be questioned.