A peaceful march from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh by an Indian environmental activist Ajit Rajagopal was stopped and detained by Egyptian police forces as part of a wider crackdown ahead of the COP27 climate meeting, which will begin there on November 6th.
According to AlJazeera, after spending more than 24 hours at a police station in Obour, which is roughly 35 kilometres (22 miles) northeast of Cairo, Ajit Rajagopal was released on Monday.
With a banner reading “March For Our Planet” in allusion to a caravan-foot march-style mobilisation that began in Africa and expanded throughout the world, he started out on Sunday with the intention of trekking 260km (162 miles) on foot.
The Indian activist was stopped and detained in Obour with Makarios Lahthi, a friend and lawyer who had acted on his behalf upon the arrest.
The publication citing sources reports that both the men did not have access to a phone, food, and water during 24 hours of detention.
The arrest, which went on for more than 24 hours in breach of the law, was denounced in a statement released on Monday by the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF).