Faizel Patel, 2016-03-29
The Jamiatul Ulama South Africa has welcomed the release of 66-year-old Sheikh Abdul Salaam Bassiouni following a 15-month detention ordeal at the hands of Egyptian authorities.
The elderly Muslim scholar and head of the Al Tawheed Islamic Centre from Lenasia was freed from a police station in Egypt this early this morning.
He is a well-known community worker especially in some townships of Johannesburg.
The organization he founded and established runs pre-schools, feeding programmes and other socio-economic empowerment programmes.
In a statement, secretary general of the Jamiatul Ulama Moulana Ebrahim Bham says, Bassiouni’s detention was cause for distress and concern to those close to him including family, friends and colleagues.
“His release, coming at a stage when little hope was left, is a cause for relief to all of us.”
Moulana Bham has thanked the South African diplomatic mission in Cairo for extending consular service to Bassiouni and the many individuals and organizations that worked tirelessly in order to secure his release.
“Their spirit of solidarity and commitment to see that justice is done is commendable.”
The Jamiatul Ulama has appealed to the Egyptian government to release all detainees held as prisoners of conscience as a way towards national reconciliation.
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