Justice Observatory in Egypt from October 23 to October 29, 2023

Summary:

1. Supreme State Security Prosecution investigates 34 citizens demonstrating in support of the Palestinian cause, on terrorism charges.
2. Cairo Criminal Court renewed the imprisonment of dozens of people including some who exceeded the maximum limit of pretrial detention.
3. Continuation of ongoing exceptional trials before terrorism chambers in prisons.
4. Zagazig Criminal Court, Terrorism Circuit issued acquittal and conviction rulings for citizens on charges of spreading false news.
5. The Supreme Administrative Authority announces the start of receiving appeals against the presidential elections and begins examining them.
6. Two citizens died inside their confinement in Egyptian prisons.

Details

1- Appearance after enforced disappearance

Thursday, 26 October

1. Security forces in Kafr Saqr, Sharqia arrested Abdel Fattah Hilal and Mohammad Mahmoud Hilal from their homes and took them to an unknown destination, without presentation to any prosecution authority till now.

2- Prosecution Investigations:

• Supreme State Security Prosecution:

1. The Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated (during the newsletter’s coverage period) 34 citizens, and put them in pretrial detention for joining a terrorist group and financing and supplying a terrorist group.

3- Detention Renewal:

Tuesday, 24 October

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-II Terrorism, in Badr Prison heard a detention renewal session for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases. Case Numbers are 316 of 2017, 1555 of 2018, 1006 of 2020, 1107 of 2020, 915 of 2021, 1869 of 2021, 1934 of 2021, 2056 of 2021, 2467 of 2021, 2976 For the year 2021, 2993 for the year 2021, 85 for the year 2022, 583 of 2022, 670 of 2022, 907 of 2022, 1096 of 2022, 1473 of 2022, 1634 of 2022, including activist Sherif Al-Rubi, 1650 of 2022, 1960 of 2022, 2135 of 2022 , 2412 of 2022, 4 of 2023, 185 for the year 2023, 424 for the year 2023, 440 for the year 2023, 540 for the year 2023, 626 for the year 2023Supreme State Security.

 

Wednesday, 24 October

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-II Terrorism, in Badr Prison heard a detention renewal session for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases. Case Numbers are 376 of 2012, 630 of 2017, 563 of 2020, 566 of 2020, 575 of 2020, 880 of 2020, 955 of 2020, including photojournalist Hamdi Al-Zaeem, 960 of 2020, 1018 of 2020, 1 058 of 2020, 1196 of 2020 65 of the year 2021, including activist Nermeen Hussein, 984 of the year 2021, 2121 of the year 2021, 2174 of the year 2021, 2581 of the year 2021, 330 of the year 2022, 1576 of the year 2022, 1655 of the year 2022, 1752 of the year 2022, 1940 for the year 2022, 88 for the year 2023 , 422 for the year 2023, 508 for the year 2023, 585 for the year 2023, 718 for the year 2023, 860 for the year 2023, 1160 for the year 2023, 1232 for the year 2023, Supreme State Security.
2. The Banha Total Prosecution renewed the detention of Ahmed Hamdi Al-Said Suleiman, known as “Ahmed Jeeka”, for 15 days pending Case No. 3117 of 2023, Kafr Shukr Administrative District.

4- Trials:

Monday, 23 October

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-I Terrorism held in Badr Prison decided to reserve the retrial of 1 defendant, in the case known in the media as the Kafr Hakim Church burning case, to the session of 21 January 2024.

 

Tuesday, 24 October

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-I Terrorism held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 1 defendant in the case known in the media as the MB media committees case, to the session on November, 2023.
2. The Court of Cassation, held at the High Court, postponed the appeals submitted by 162 defendants against the conviction rulings in the case known in the media as the Helwan Brigades case, to the session of 28 November 2023.

 

Wednesday, 25 October

1. The same chamber in the Cairo Criminal Court, held in Badr Prison, postponed the trial of 5 defendants in the case known in the media as the Al-Marg Terrorist Cell case to the session of 6 November 2023.

 

Thursday, 26 October

1. Hahia Misdemeanor Court of Appeal, Terrorism Circuit in Sharqia postponed the appeal of Ahmed Awni Abdel Basseer against the prison sentence against on charges of publishing false news and statements to the session of 2 November 2023.
2. The same circuit postponed the appeal of Muhammad Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Attar against the prison sentence against him on charges of publishing false news and statements, to the session of 9 November 2023.

 

Saturday, 28 October

1. Kafr El-Sheikh Criminal Court, Terrorism Circuit-VIII held in Wadi El-Natroun Prison, postponed the trial of 6 defendants in the case known in the media as the Al-Qaeda case to the session of 28 November 2023.
2. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-III held in Badr Prison postponed the trial of 111 defendants in the case known in the media as the Hasm and Lewaa Al-Thawra case to the session of 25 November 2023.
3. The same chamber postponed the trial of Ahmed Gamal Al-Arini on charges of publishing false news and statements until the session of 11 November 2023 for obtaining documents.
4. The same chamber postponed the trial of 9 citizens, namely Ahmed Muhammad Awad, Abdel Raouf Mustafa, Mohammad Khalil, Hisham Al-Baz, Ibrahim Hassan Ibrahim, Ahmed Muhammad Rashad, Ragab Ismail, Ahmed Refaat, and Bassem Othman, against the backdrop of their accusation of publishing false news and statements, until the session of 25 November 2023 to pronounce the ruling.
5. The same chamber postponed the trial of Mosaab Abdel Rahman on charges of publishing false news and statements until the session of 11 November 2023 for obtaining documents.

 

5- Judicial Decisions:

Thursday, 26 October

1. Hahia Misdemeanor Court of Appeal, Terrorism Circuit, ruled to amend the sentence against Mahmoud Al-Said Al-Shahat, Ahmed Mustafa Mahmoud Ismail, Ahmed Ismail Ali Mohammad, Ahmed Al-Taher Abdel Salam, Al-Said Rashad Mohammad, and Nader Mohammad Saeed Ibrahim from one-year imprisonment to three months imprisonment on charges of spreading false news and data.

 

Saturday, 28 October

1. Zagazig Misdemeanor Court, Terrorism Circuit, acquitted Misbah Muhammad Mohammad Hussein on charges of publishing false news and data in Case No. 18313 of 2023, Zagazig Misdemeanor.
2. The same circuit acquitted Mahmoud Fathi Al-Said on charges of publishing false news and data in Case No. 17666 of 2023, Zagazig Misdemeanor.
3. The same circuit acquitted both Hossam Mamdouh Mohamed Moussa and Mohamed Gamal Abdel Wahab, on charges of publishing false news and data in Case No. 18711 of 2023, Zagazig Misdemeanor.
4. The same circuit sentenced both Saber Attia Ibrahim and Ahmed Abdel Hafeez Ahmed, with two year imprisonment on charges of publishing false news and data in Case No. 18710 of 2023, Zagazig Misdemeanor.

 

6- Presidential elections:

Friday, 27 October

1. The Supreme Administrative Court announced the start of receiving appeals against the presidential elections, starting from Friday, 27 October morning, till Saturday, 28 October evening. That is in order to record them in the court schedules and to schedule sessions from Sunday, 29 October until Tuesday, 7 November 2023, to decide on the submitted appeals and publish a summary of the ruling in the Official Gazette and both Al-Akhbar and AlGomhouria newspapers the expense of the loser of the appeal.

 

7- Prisons:

Wednesday, 25 October

1. Lawyer Al-Hadi Omran died inside his prison cell in Wadi El-Natroun Prison, without announcing the cause of death yet.

 

Thursday, 26 October

1. Ali Abdullah Abdul Ghaffar Abdullah, who has been in prison since 2021, died inside his prison cell in Al-Qanater Men Prison, after his health condition deteriorated with diabetes and the amputation of part of his foot earlier inside his prison cell.

Legal Comment

Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution continued its investigation for the second week in a row with 34 citizens arrested on Friday, 20 October. The arrests were for exercising the right to demonstrate and peacefully protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people and on charges stipulated in the Anti-Terrorism Law, based on fabricated investigation reports by the National Security Service.

 

The trial of dozens of citizens detained in connection with terrorism cases held inside prison facilities continued, which violates the standards and guarantees of a fair and just trial, the most important of which is the principle of publicity of trials and allowing the defendants to communication with their legal defense.

 

Terrorism chambers in the Cairo Criminal Court in Badr Prison renewed the pretrial detention of dozens of citizens pending Supreme State Security cases on vague charges and without a single piece of evidence.

Many of them have exceeded the maximum limit of pretrial detention, including photojournalist Hamdi Al-Zaeem and activist Nermeen Hussein, who has been in pretrial detention for more than two years.