A North Cairo prosecution ordered on Monday the release of Khaled Abdel Latif, the administrator of a satirical Facebook page, without bail after his arrest on charges of “insulting state institutions,” pending investigation.
Abdel Latif, founder and administrator of a page called “Translation Cleared” on Facebook, was handed a fifteen day detention period on Sunday after being arrested over the weekend at his home by security forces.
A copy writer at prominent night puppet show Abla Fahita, Abdel Latif also faces charges of inciting protests on November 11 and obstructing security and public peace.
“Translation Cleared,” long known for its sarcastic content on social issues and trends on social media, has more than one million likes on Facebook.
Mahmoud Ezzat, a colleague of Abdel Latif who works at Abla Fahita, told Ahram Online he believes an eight-second video that went viral on social media mocking Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s “Change or Fakka” initiative might be the reason behind his arrest.
Ezzat stressed that Abdel Latif does not have any political affiliations that might have triggered the detention.
In the past week, several people have been detained on charges of joining the now banned Muslim Brotherhood and inciting illegal protests on November 11, a day designated for protests over the country’s economic situation.
No political or social group has announced that they’re behind the anonymous calls to protest.