CAIRO, May 5 (UPI) -- Two leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood are staging a hunger strike in protest of their arrest by security forces this week, the group announced.
Egyptian authorities gave Muslim Brotherhood leaders Gamal Heshmat and Ossama Suleiman 15-day jail sentences following their arrest in a raid Tuesday. The Muslim Brotherhood through its Ikhwanweb news portal said both leaders are staging a hunger strike in protest of the arrests.
The group added there were no reports of the charges filed against its members.
Egyptian security forces clashed with demonstrators Tuesday who were marching in a Muslim Brotherhood rally in support of political reform in Egypt.
The group is protesting a state of emergency enacted after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat. The measure places restrictions on certain forms of political organization.
The Muslim Brotherhood said police Tuesday beat protesters with batons as they tried to break through police barricades.
Riot police in early April clashed with protesters who were calling for democratic reforms as the country gets set for October parliamentary elections and a 2011 presidential race.
