People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy detained in Egypt for second time
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has been detained by Egyptian authorities for a second time.
Mr Murphy travelled to Egypt last week as part of the Global March to Gaza group, which was to march across the Sinai Desert to the Rafah border to call for the opening of the crossing and the delivery of aid to Palestinians.
However, on Friday, Mr Murphy and numerous others were stopped, detained by authorities and had their passports and phones taken, before being taken to the airport.
In a message on Monday, Mr Murphy said he was currently being detained in a Cairo police station after he was advised by the Irish embassy to go to the airport to retrieve his phone.
"They took my passport again, had me talk to the secret police and left me in a room with an interpreter. They claim they are looking for my phone," said Mr Murphy, using a new phone he had obtained over the weekend.
I just attempted to leave but they said that I cannot leave. I understand that other march participants have also been detained.
Meanwhile, Global March to Gaza said two international coordinators were detained over the weekend, French citizen Hicham El Ghaoui and Spanish citizen Manuel Tapial.
Mr Tapial was said to have been deported in the early hours of Monday morning. Mr El Ghaoui is currently being processed for deportation.
"We are working with embassies and will provide information about other detainees and deportations soon," the group said in a statement.
"We call on all relevant embassies to intervene on behalf of other march participants who have been detained or deported despite acting fully within the bounds of Egyptian law and entering the country legally and peacefully."
Following this latest update, Mr Murphy's partner, Dublin councillor Jess Spear, appealed to Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Simon Harris to urgently intervene.
"The Tánaiste must ensure that Paul and all the Global March to Gaza participants are released, have their passports returned and are allowed to continue their humanitarian mission to try and get aid to the people of Gaza," said Ms Spear.
Mr Harris had spoken with Mr Murphy following his initial detention on Friday and said local embassy staff had worked to secure the release of the Dublin TD and other Irish citizens who had been detained.
"The wellbeing and safety of all Irish citizens abroad is always of concern to me and to my department. I am aware some Irish citizens have not had their phones returned by the authorities and I have asked our embassy to pursue this," Mr Harris said.
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