Justice Observatory in Egypt.. From 1 to 7 April 2023

Summery:

1. The Ministry of the Interior issues a statement about what it described as false allegations on Brotherhood channels about violations in a prison.

2. 38 citizens were investigated before the Supreme State Security Prosecution and partial prosecutions on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

3. Terrorism circles renewed the imprisonment of hundreds of citizens on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

4. The Ministry of Interior releases 25 citizens after the completion of their release procedures, in Sharkia Governorate.

5. The postponement of the second trial of the activist of the April 6 Movement, Mohamed Adel, on charges of spreading false news.

6. The Supreme Administrative Court postpones the appeal against the administrative court’s ruling refusing to allocate cemeteries for Baha’is in Port Said.

Details

1. Prosecution Investigations

Supreme State Security Prosecution:

The Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated 33 citizens during the our coverage period and on separate days, accusing them of joining a terrorist group and publishing false news and statements, and imprisoned them pending investigations.

Public Prosecution

Saturday 1^st of April

1. Kafr Saqr Prosecution office interrogated the citizen/ Ali Hafni Abdel Mageed after he was arrested from the Sharkia governorate, accusing him of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and imprisoned him for 15 days.

2. Kafr Saqr Prosecution office interrogated the citizen/ Omar Awad Ahmed Al-Shazly – after he appeared from an enforced disappearance that lasted 25 days – and accused him of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and imprisoned him for 15 days.

3. Abu Hammad Center Prosecution office interrogated the citizen/ Mamdouh Saad Al-Iraqi, after he was arrested from his home in Al-Sharqia Governorate, and accused of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and imprisoned him for 15 days.

Monday 3^rd of April

Kafr Saqr Partial Prosecution interrogated the citizen / Mr. Abdul Rahman, after he was arrested from his house at dawn today in the Sharkia Governorate, accusing him of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and imprisoned him for 15 days.

Wednesday 5^th of April

Kafr Saqr Partial Prosecution interrogated the citizen / Abdul Rahman, after he was arrested from his home at dawn in Sharkia Governorate, on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and imprisoned him for 15 days.

2. Detention Renewal

Saturday 1^st of April

The First Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court considered a session to renew the detention of dozens of detainees held in pretrial detention pending cases No. 640 of 2018, 1430 of 2018, 706 of 2019, 647 of 2020, 260 of 2021, 909 of 2021, 1934 of 2021, 2215 of 2021 Supreme State Security. The court decided to renew his detention for a period of 45 days.

Sunday 2^nd April

The First Chamber, Cairo Criminal Court, considered the renewal of the detention of dozens of detainees held in pretrial detention pending case No. 335 of 2020, 649 of 2020, 1022 of 2020, 1054 of 2020, 628 of 2021, 1000 of 2021, 1869 of 2021, 1020 of 2022 Supreme State Security. The court decided to detain all the accused for a period of 45 days.

Monday 3^rd of April

1. The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed 5 YouTubers for a period of 15 days in Case No. 2094 of 2022 Supreme State Security, on charges of joining a terrorist group, after they were arrested for publishing a skit on YouTube.

2. The First Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court considered a session to renew the detention of dozens of detainees held in pretrial detention pending cases No. 1555 of 2018, 311 of 2019, 1118 of 2019, 1400 of 2019, 1823 of 2019, 936 of 2021, 2213 of 2021, 1097 of 2022 supreme state security.

Tuesday 4^th of April

The First Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court considered the session of dozens of detainees held in pretrial detention pending cases No. 828 of 2017, 1175 of 2018, 1430 of 2018, 311 of 2019, 750 of 2019, 1480 of 2019, 467 of 2020, 585 of 2020, 1055 628 of 2021, 1222 of 2021, 1413 of 2021, 1987 of 2021, 2741 of 2021, 1007 of 2022, 1540 of 2022, 2069 of 2022, 2070 of 2022, 2135 of 2 022 Supreme State Security, and the court decided to imprison all the accused for a period of 45 days.

Wednesay 5^th of April

1. The First Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court considered the session of hundreds of detainees held in pretrial detention pending cases No. 630 of 2017, 563 of 2020, 566 of 2020, 575 of 2020, 880 of 2020, 955 of 2020. Among the defendants presented are photojournalist Hamdi Al-Zaeem and journalist Mohamed Saeed Fahmy, 1018 of 2020, 1058 of 2020, 1116 of 2020, 1196 of 2020, 960 of 2020, 65 of 2021. Among the defendants presented: activist Nermeen Hussein, 911 of 2021, 984 of 2021, 2121 of 2021, 2174 of 2021, 2467 For the year 2021, 2581 for the year 2021, 2976 for the year 2021, 330 for the year 2022, and among the defendants presented is human rights lawyer Youssef Mansour, 583 for the year 2022, 670 for the year 2022, and among the defendants presented is journalist Raouf Ebeid, 1576 for the year 2022, 1655 for the year 2022, 2094 for the year 2 022 security Supreme State The court decided to renew the detention of all the defendants presented for a period of 45 days.

2. Zagazig Criminal Court renewed the detention of two citizens pending Case No. 1805 of 2021 misdemeanor, and one citizen for a period of 45 days pending Case No. 266 of 2021, and a citizen pending Case No. 265 of 2021, and a citizen for a period of 45 days pending Case No. 320 of 2021 , and one citizen for a period of 45 days pending Case No. 319 of 2021, all of them for a period of 45 days with misdemeanors, on charges of joining a terrorist group.

3. Releases

Saturday 1^st of April

The security forces at Abu Hammad Police Station in Al-Sharqiya Governorate released two citizens, in implementation of the decisions to release them issued after the completion of the procedures.

Tuesday 4^th of April

Security forces at Dierib Negm police station released 23 citizens from Al-Sharqiya governorate, in implementation of the decisions to release them issued on different dates.

4. Trials:

Saturday 1^st of April

1. The Aga Misdemeanor Court in Dakahlia Governorate postponed the trial of activist Mohamed Adel on charges of publishing false news and statements to the May 6, 2023 session for review.

2. The Second Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court held in the Correction and Rehabilitation Center of Badr City postponed the retrial of one defendant in the first Olive Cell case to the May 8, 2023 session.

Tuesday 4^th of April

Terrorism Chamber in the Hihya Misdemeanor Court postponed the trial of 4 citizens from Al Sharqiya Governorate, after they were accused of publishing false news and statements, to pronounce the verdict on April 27, 2023.

5. Judicial rulings:

Wednesday 5^th of April

The Terrorism Chamber of the Ibrahimi Misdemeanor Court ruled that two citizens be punished with one year in prison and fined each defendant an amount of 100 pounds, after accusing them of promoting the purposes of a terrorist group and possessing materials that incite against the state.

Thursday 6^th of April

The Terrorism Chamber of the Hihya Misdemeanor Court of Appeal canceled the three-month prison sentence issued against 16 defendants and acquitted them again after accusing him of promoting the purposes of a terrorist group and possessing materials that incite against the state.

6. Legislations and decisions:

Monday 3^rd of April

The Official Gazette published in its issue No. 78 followed the decision of the Minister of Justice, Counselor / Omar Marawan No. 2345 of 2023, the second Damanhour branch of the State Litigation Authority, from its current headquarters to the new headquarters in the first and second floors at the top of the arriving quay building at the goods entrance at Damanhour station in Al-Buhaira governorate.

7. Administrative and constitutional judiciary:

Tuesday 4^th of April

The Supreme Administrative Court postponed Appeal No. 77999 of 69 BC against the administrative court ruling in Port Said, refusing to oblige the state to allocate cemeteries for Baha’is in Port Said, to a session of May 2, 2022.

8. Statements and declarations:

Sunday 2^nd of April

The official page of the Ministry of Interior published on its official page on the social networking site Facebook a statement stating falsity of what was circulated in a video clip on one of the pages loyal to the terrorist Brotherhood on one of the social networking sites regarding the presence of violations by the fans in a football match that was held at the Cairo Stadium.

Wednesday 5^th of April

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has published statements on its official page on the social networking site Facebook, indicating the launch of a service for issuing electronic work permits “for the first time” through the Ministry’s electronic portal for a number of countries to include all Arab and foreign countries within the framework of the Ministry of Interior’s strategy aimed at activating the use of modern technology to improve the level of services the wish.

Legal Comment

• The Ministry of Interior published a brief statement stating that there is no truth to what it described as “fabricated allegations and lies” by one of the channels supporting the terrorist Brotherhood group about the existence of violations in one of the reform and rehabilitation centers, without stating the name of the reform and rehabilitation center is and what are the procedures that the Ministry followed in order to verify these allegations. The statement described the allegations as false, while it was issued a few days after a number of detainees inside Badr Reform and Rehabilitation Center 3 appeared before the Cairo Criminal Court in one of the detention renewal sessions, and they told the court that they had been subjected to many violations at the hands of the prison officials.

• The decision of the Aga Misdemeanor Court in Dakahlia Governorate to postpone the trial of activist Mohamed Adel on the grounds of his accusation of publishing false news and statements by enabling the defense present with him to view the case file without enabling him to photograph it, is in violation of the provisions of the articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and this decision issued by the court to postpone is the second decision after the court panel postponed hearing the case from last March and authorized the defense team to photocopy the case file, which is the decision that the prosecution refused to implement, which indicates that this trial is just a trial in terms of form and that the decision was prepared in advance, like many similar cases in which unfair rulings were issued as the case of activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and human rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer lack the standards and guarantees of a fair and just trial.

• The security authorities continued to pursue citizens, arrest them, refer them to the Public Prosecution and the Supreme State Security Prosecution, interrogate them, and issue decisions to remand them in pretrial detention on broad charges, and there is no material evidence except for the investigations of the National Security Sector, according to which they enter the circle of abuse against them and enter the labyrinth of pretrial detention, which constitutes A flagrant violation of the constitutional right to personal freedom of citizens stipulated in Article 54 of the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

• Throughout the entire week, the First Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court, held inside the Reform and Rehabilitation Center of Badr City, considered a session to renew the detention of hundreds of citizens detained in pretrial detention pending Supreme State Security cases. Although there are many of those who have been brought before the court, they have exceeded the maximum limit of pretrial detention stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure, which confirms that talking about a breakthrough in the file of pretrial detainees is nothing but baseless flimsy phrases, as there is no real breakthrough except by activating texts The law and respect for it are from the authorities in charge of its implementation.