CTUWS, 18^th of November, 2014: Tomorrow the Heliopolis appeal court will be hearing the appeal against the public prosecution’s decision to renew detention of Mahmoud Rehan, leading trade unionist in Cairo Airport Company, for another 15 days.

Last Monday, police forces arrested Mahmoud Rehan, vice president of independent trade union for Cairo Airport Company workers, in his office, acting on a complaint filed against him by airport security accusing him of insulting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and disclosing national security secrets on his personal profile on Facebook.

The prosecution decided to renew his detention for four days, then another 15 days, pending investigations.

Mahmoud Rehan was transferred in April last year from Cairo Airport to the distant Shark El Oweinat Airport after his participation in a protest organized by the company workers to demand the resignation of the Minister of Civil Aviation, accusing him of covering up corruption and forcing the chairman of Cairo Airport Company to resign just because he asked that one of the corruption files related to building a fire-fighting unit without a source for water should be referred to the public prosecution.

The workers confirmed at the time, in a statement distributed among them, that the Minister was determined to keep officials accused of misusing public money in the company ignoring the workers’ demands to hold them accountable for the charges, despite the fact that Administrative Control Authority have proven the involvement of some of them, and some, such as the chairman of the holding company, are currently on trial for corruption.

That decision included four other drivers; however their transfer was cancelled following a threat by the rest of the drivers to go on a strike.

CTUWS announces that it stands in solidarity with Mahmoud Rehan, Vice president of independent trade union for Cairo Airport workers, emphasizing that this is a new link in the chain of settling accounts with honest labor leaders and trade unionists who call for investigating corruption in state-owned enterprises, and who had a prominent roles for the last few years in facing the corrupt officials of Mubarak’s regime, and Mursi’s after him, who are still occupying their positions.

CTUWS calls upon all democratic powers in the Egyptian society to show solidarity with Mahmoud Rehan and his unionist colleagues in a demonstrationtomorrow, Wednesday, at Heliopolis appeal court during the hearing of the appeal against Mahmoud Rehan’s renewed detention.