Egyptian rights group head hopes release will help other prisoners

Gasser Abdel Razek, Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) speaks during an interview with Reuters in his home in Cairo, Egypt December 4, 2020. REUTERS/Sayed Sheasha

CAIRO (Reuters) - The head of a leading Egyptian human rights group who was held for two weeks on terrorism charges said on Saturday he hoped that the campaign to secure his release would help others still jailed on similar allegations.

Activists saw the detention last month of Gasser Abdel Razek, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and two of the group's other staff, as the latest escalation of a broad crackdown on political dissent under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.