Egyptian revolutionary Alaa Abd El Fattah arrested by junta. Jack Shenker

One of Egypt's most prominent revolutionaries has been taken into custody by the country's military rulers, provoking the biggest crisis yet in relations between pro-change activists and the increasingly repressive army junta.

Alaa Abd El Fattah, a 29-year-old who has been at the forefront of anti-regime struggles for a decade and was a political prisoner during the Mubarak era, was arrested on Sunday on charges of inciting violence against the military. He refused to recognise the legitimacy of his interrogators or answer their questions and is set to be held for 15 days, a period that can be renewed indefinitely by the authorities.

Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh condemned the detention as "a major setback for the Egyptian revolution", while a number of campaign groups – including the influential 6 April movement – immediately declared a policy of total non-co-operation with army prosecutors, putting them on a guaranteed collision course with the ruling generals.

"Abd El Fattah's targeting is only the latest example of the systematic targeting of journalists, media figures, bloggers and activists by SCAF [the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces]," said the 'No to Military Trials' group in a statement. "As of today we refuse to co-operate with the military prosecution of civilians and we call on all Egyptian citizens to stand with us … This is not the new Egypt we have fought and died for."

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