CAIRO, May 8 (UPI) -- Egypt's top state security prosecutor ordered the arrest of 20 political activists for interrogation on charges of offending President Hosni Mubarak.
A security source said Monday that all activists belonged to the Egyptian Movement for Change, Kifaya (Enough), and were arrested for 15 days by order of the prosecutor.
In addition to affronting Mubarak, the activists were accused of attacking a police officer, holding illegal gatherings and disturbing public security.
Police had arrested 48 activists in the past ten days for organizing protests and sit-ins in support of two reformist judges who are being tried by a disciplinary court for leading a campaign to make the judiciary independent from the executive authorities and placing electoral processes under full judicial control.
Police also used force in past days to break up protests in support of Hisham Bastawiss and Mahmoud Makki, organized by Kifaya, the liberal al-Ghad party and the Popular Campaign for Change, a leftist group.
Egypt's penal code allows imprisonment for up to two years on conviction of offending the head of state.
