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Education International

Egypt: Detained Canadian academics on hunger strike

published 18 September 2013 updated 19 September 2013

Two Canadian academics detained in Egypt have embarked on a hunger strike on Monday 16 September to protest the extension of their detention. Dr. Tarek Loubani and John Greyson will drink only fruit juice.

The two members of EI affiliate, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), were arrested on 16 August. They were arrested in a Cairo street after the curfew imposed by current emergency law, and have been held without charge for a month. The Canadian government has said it believes the two were simply in “the wrong place at the wrong time.”

At the urging of Canadian consular officials, Egyptian authorities agreed to move them to a less crowded and more sanitary cell.

EI launched an Urgent Action Appeal to demand Egyptian authorities to immediately release the two researchers.