Doctors’ union activist arrested

Dozens of doctors, trade unionists and academics from Greece, the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland and the USA have launched an international statement calling for the release of Egyptian doctors’ union activist Dr Taher Mokhtar following his arrest on 14 January in a dawn raid on his home. Add your name to the statement online here

Download a printable version of the statement here, and a pdf of the poster here.

Read more on the background to this story here

Doctors strike against police violence

Doctors at Al-Matariyya Hospital in Cairo walked out on strike for a week in defence of colleagues who were assaulted by policemen for refusing to write false reports about a patient’s injuries. The strike began after a van of policemen arrived at the hospital on 28 January, Doctor’s Union secretary-general Mona Mina told Egyptian news site, Mada Masr. They told doctors to falsify medical reports, and then seized two doctors, who “were abducted from the hospital by policemen and dragged into the microbus, where they were handcuffed and transported to Matareya Police Station”, Mina said.

Read more here

What you can do:

• Rush messages of support to Dr Mona Mina, General Secretary, Egyptian Doctors’ Union, Cairo (or email campaign@egyptsolidarityinitiative.net and we will pass on the message)
• Use this sign to send a picture message of solidarity [solidarity_sign_doctors]
• Take action in solidarity with Egyptian doctors’ union activist Taher Mokhtar who was arrested last month.