Egyptian police detained 21 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, including the secretary general of the organization’s top council and other leaders, brotherhood officials said.
The crackdown on the Brotherhood began in March and has continued as the government prepares for Wednesday’s referendum on changes to the way the president is chosen.
The Brotherhood and the main recognized opposition parties have called on Egyptians to boycott the vote.
Police took the men from their homes in the early hours of the morning, deputy leader Mohamed Habib told Reuters.
The Egyptian authorities are already holding more than 700 members of the outlawed Islamist movement, one of the groups at the forefront of an opposition campaign for political and social reform.
The most prominent among the latest detainees is Mahmoud Ezzat, the secretary general of the 15-man Guidance Council, who is in effect the second most powerful member of the organization after General Guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef.
The Brotherhood objects to a proposed constitutional amendment changing the system for choosing the Egyptian president because it sets tough conditions for independents to run, in effect excluding an Islamist candidate.
The police have treated aspects of opposition to the referendum as a crime, detaining people for questioning on allegations that they were preparing leaflets asking people not to vote.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said earlier this month police were detaining people only for acts of violence. The Brotherhood says the detentions are for expression of opinion and for political organizing.
Habib said the Sunday raids were in Alexandria, the Nile Delta provinces and in the Greater Cairo area.
Brotherhood blasts government's 'repressive method'
“We condemn this unjustified action, which violates the law and the constitution ... and contradicts the (government’s) claim that emergency law is used only against cases of violence and drugs,” Habib said.
“This repressive method practiced against the people in general and the opposition in particular makes matters more complicated and makes the general atmosphere more inflamed and more tense,” he said.
Other leaders detained on Sunday included Helmi el-Gazzar and Ahmed Sharaf, the manager of the Brotherhood’s publishing house, said the editor of the Brotherhood Web site. Another senior Brotherhood member, Essam el-Erian, was detained on May 6.
The opposition parties object to the proposed amendment because to field a candidate in all elections after this year’s they will need to have at least 5 percent of seats in parliament, which is dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party.
The amendment introduces direct presidential elections in place of the old system of a referendums on a single candidate chosen in advance by parliament.
Security sources, speaking to Reuters, confirmed the detentions. An Interior Ministry spokesman said he had no information.