CAIRO: Prominent reform-minded Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh was released from state security custody on Wednesday, after spending nearly five months behind bars. The move was welcomed by the Muslim Brotherhood, who had long demanded the top leader and Secretary-General of the Arab Doctors Union be released.

According to a spokesman for the Egyptian Islamic group, Aboul Fotouh has “gone home” and is recovering from his months-long ordeal. The detention sparked sporadic protests and was one of the rare times where secular activists joined the Brotherhood in demonstrations at the press syndicate in downtown Cairo last July and August.

The doctor and much-loved Brotherhood leader, was arrested on June 28 by Egyptian security forces as part of the government’s continuing crackdown on the Islamic group.

In an interview with Bikya Masr shortly before his detention, Aboul Fotouh detailed the future of the movement, arguing that “freedom, democracy and justice” are the most important factors that must be adhered to in Egypt.

His health had been a major concern. Doctors were closely watching the health of Aboul Fotouh, who suffers from sleeping apnea. According to one doctor treating him at the hospital he was held, the leader was under constant threat of having major complications due to the poor treatment he was receiving by the government.

The Brotherhood has been outraged over his and other senior leaders’ arrests.

The Brotherhood, which holds a fifth of the seats in Parliament, is banned as an organization but its members are allowed to compete in elections as independents.

Since their Parliamentary success, the government has been cracking down on the banned group, but only recently have senior members been targeted in such raids that result in 15-day detentions.

Aboul Fotouh’s arrest and subsequent detention sparked much ire among activists, including secularists, who believe the crackdown against Brotherhood members is “inappropriate.” George Ishaq, a leading Kefaya (Enough) Movement activist, told Bikya Masr at a downtown solidarity demonstration for the embattled MB leader last summer that the “regime wants to take down anyone who opposes it and this will not happen. We will stand strong in the face of their arrogance.”

The warning is worrying many in Egypt, who feel the arrests are doing more harm than good. But, what is certain is that the Brotherhood continues to push on, preparing itself for a January vote for a new Supreme Guide.

“We will not be stopped by the government to have a democratic election, something they do not do,” said current Supreme Guide Mahdy Akef.

BM

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