Summary:
- State Security investigations continue into 21 citizens on charges of terrorism and spreading false news.
- Renewing the detention of dozens of citizens pending cases of the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
- Security forces in Zagazig, Sharqia, arrest a citizen from his home and forcibly disappear him.
- Zagazig Misdemeanor Court of Appeal, Terrorism Chamber, rules to acquit 7 citizens from Sharqia on charges against them.
- Ministry of Interior grants prison inmates an exceptional visit on International Human Rights Day.
- Renewing the detention of Essam Al-Haddad (assistant to former President Mohamed Morsi for Foreign Affairs) and rotating him on a new case, after serving his sentence.
Details
1- Arrest and Detention (enforced disappearance)
Friday 22 December
- Security forces at Zagazig, Sharqia arrested engineer Abdullah Omar Refaat, and took him to an unknown destination without presentation to any investigating authorities yet.
2- Prosecution Investigations:
- Supreme State Security Prosecution:
- Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated (during the newsletter’s coverage period) 21 citizens, and put them in pretrial detention for joining a terrorist group and financing and supplying a terrorist group.
3- Rotation Pending New Cases:
Thursday 21 December
- Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated Essam Al-Haddad, (Foreign Affairs Assistant to President, Mohamed Morsi) – after a release from pretrial detention on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, in Case No. 2215 of 2021, Supreme State Security.
4- Detention Renewal:
Tuesday 19 December
- Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-I renewed the detention of dozens of citizen, pending investigations Cases numbers are 316 of 2017, 1480 of 2019, 238 of 2021, including journalist writer Tawfiq Ghanem and human rights lawyer Mr. Khalaf, 482 of 2021, 1222 of 2021, 1983 of 2021, 1391 of 2022, 1752 of 2022, 2135 of 2022, 2216 of 2022, 185 of 2023, 191 of 2023, 192 of 2023, 203 of 2023, 294 of 2023, 333 of 2023, 352 of 2023, 440 of 2023, 508 of 2023, 540 of 202 3, 1160 of 2023, Supreme State Security.
Wednesday 20 December
- Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-I, in Badr Prison renewed the detention for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases No. 441 of 2018, 1175 of 2018, 470 of 2019, 800 of 2019, 930 of 2019, 1450 of 2019, 1530 of 2019, 1781 of 2019, 570 of 2020 , 580 of 2020, 812 of 2020, 855 of 2020, 865 of 2020, 1017 of 2020, 915 of 2021, 991 of 2021, 2175 of 2021, 1 of 2022 (copied from 1269 of 2 019), 440 of 2022, 1042 of 2022 (copied from 420 of 2017), 1096 of 2022, 1391 of 2022, 1394 of 2022, 1660 of 2022, 744 of 2023, Supreme State Security.
Sunday 24 December
- Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-I, in Badr Prison renewed the detention for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases No. 900 of 2017, 1331 of 2018, 1235 of 2019, 1270 of 2019, 1480 of 2019, 2007 of 2019, 335 of 2020, 569 of 2020, 577 of 2020, 615 of 2020 984 of 2020, 1052 of 2020, 595 of 2021, 911 for the year 2021, 965 for the year 2021, 1869 of 2021, 2013 of 2021, 2147 of 2021, 41 of 2022, 94 of 2022, 441 of 2022, including both female journalists Hala Fahmy and Safaa Al-Qorbagi, 1493 of 2022, 1516 of 2022, 1910 of 2022, 2515 of 2022, 2185 of 2022, 1 of 2023, 60 of 2023, 324 of 2023, 440 of 2023, 524 of 2023, 710 of 2023, 717 of 2023, 146 7 of 2023, 1816 of 2023, Supreme State Security.
- Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of human rights lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights, Hoda Abdel Moneim, for 15 days pending case No. 730 of 2020, Supreme State Security.
5- Trials:
Monday 18 December
- Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-I held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 1 defendant in the case known in the media as case to the sentencing session on 17 February 2024.
Saturday 23 December
- Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III held in Badr Prison postponed the trail of 1 defendant, in the case known in the media as Zaytoun Violence Incidents case, to next day session to complete the arguments.
Sunday 24 December
- Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III held in Badr Prison postponed the trail of 1 defendant, in the case known in the media as Zaytoun Violence Incidents case, to complete the arguments.
6- Judicial Rulings:
Thursday 31 August
- Zagazig Misdemeanor Court of Appeal, Terrorism Chamber, ruled to cancel the 3 months prison sentence against 7 citizens and again acquitted on charges of spreading fake news.
7- Legislations and decisions:
Monday 18 December
- The Official Gazette, in its issue No. 0 bis B, published Decision No. 39 of 2023 by the National Elections Commission announcing the results of the 2024 presidential elections, which resulted in the current President/ Abdel Fattah El-Sisi winning a new term for a period of 6 years.
8- Statements:
Monday 18 December
- Ministry of the Interior announced granting all inmates in prisons an “exceptional visit” during the period from 18 – 23 December as celebration of “International Human Rights Day.”
Legal Comment
Supreme State Security Prosecution continues investigating dozens.
As Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated – during the newsletter’s coverage period –21 citizens, and put them in pretrial detention for joining a terrorist group and financing and supplying a terrorist group, based National Security reports. Those citizens include arrests and appearances from varying periods of disappearance.
In investigating the citizens, the prosecution relied on the articles of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 94 of 2015, amended by Law No. 15 of 2020, which carries suspicion of unconstitutionality, especially Article 40, which gives the right to the judicial police officer to detain citizens for 14 days before presenting them to the prosecution for investigation.
The rotation of former Foreign Affairs Assistant to President, Essam Al-Haddad, in Case No. 2215 of 2021, Supreme State Security. The investigation and rotation are on charges of joining a terrorist group, assuming leadership in a terrorist group, and committing a financing and logistics crime after serving a 10-year prison sentence by the Cairo Criminal Court in the case known in the media as the case of collaborating with Hamas
This confirms the arbitrariness of the current regime and its desire to take revenge on those who oppose it, without considering the texts of the law and without considering the principles of the Court of Cassation.
How can a person imprisoned in a high-security prison commit the same crimes, which are joining a group, assuming leadership, and committing financing crimes from within his high-security prison?
If these accusations were true, those responsible for the prison of his detention must be held accountable.
The decision of the terrorism chambers in the Cairo Criminal Court, inside Badr Prison, came to renew the pretrial detention of dozens of citizens detained in connection with cases of Supreme State Security Prosecution, on broad charges that do not support reason and logic.
Those courts held renewal sessions, to citizens including journalist writer/ Tawfiq Ghanem, who has been d in pretrial detention for more than two years.
Public Prosecution must quickly issue a decision to release them without guarantee, like many of those the Supreme State Security Prosecution previously decided to release.