CAIRO, 11 November 2004 — The prosecutor-general’s office yesterday released 60 alleged members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group who had been detained for six months for belonging to an outlawed organization.

An official at the prosecutor-general’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the charges had been dropped and the 60 were freed after the maximum detention period allowed under Egypt’s emergency laws. He gave no reason for dropping the charges.

Sawasya Center for Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination said 61 active members of the group had been arrested in May under the emergency laws, which give authorities wide powers of arrest and prolonged detention.

One detainee died in custody in June, prompting the Brotherhood to accuse the government of negligence and lack of medical care for the detainees.

The government said Akram El-Zoheiri, 40, broke his pelvic bone while being transported to another detention facility and died while receiving treatment in the hospital, likely from internal bleeding exacerbated by his diabetes.

Ali Abdel-Fattah, a leading Brotherhood member, confirmed the release of the men and told the Associated Press that some of the freed have already arrived at their homes.

In a statement, Sawasya Center praised the release and urged the settlement of cases other citizens detained under emergency laws.

“The step falls within the framework of consolidating human rights principles in Egypt and safeguarding the citizen’s freedom and security,” the statement said.

The release comes one day after the government released 10 leading members of the group who had served three years prison sentences for belonging to an outlawed organization.

Scores of the group’s members have been arrested and tried over the past several years under the emergency laws in effect since President Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981. International and domestic rights groups have long called for the repeal of the laws.

Although the Brotherhood, one of the world’s most widespread Islamic political movements, is officially banned in Egypt, it is tolerated and allowed a margin of freedom to function, issue statements and back political candidates. Its supporters dominate most professional unions and are active on university campuses.

The group, established in 1928, was outlawed by Egypt in 1954, accused of advocating the violent overthrow of Egypt’s secular government. Since the 1970s it has pledged to use only peaceful democratic means to establish an Islamic state.