Justice Observatory in Egypt from November 26 to November 26, 2023

Summary:

1. Supreme State Security Prosecution investigates 35 citizens, on joining a terrorist group and spreading false news charges.
2. Continuation of unfair trials before terrorism chambers issuing decisions to renew the pretrial detention of dozens of citizens without evidence.
3. Acquittal rulings for 40 citizens on charges of spreading false news in Sharqia.
4. Release of 5 citizens from Sharqia for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention
5. The investigating judge issues an order to file a criminal case before the Land Center for Human Rights in the case known in the media as the Civil Society Closing Case.

Details

1- Prosecution Investigations:

• Supreme State Security Prosecution:

1. The Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated (during the newsletter’s coverage period) 35 citizens, and put them in pretrial detention for joining a terrorist group and financing and supplying a terrorist group.

 

• Public Prosecution Investigations:

Thursday, 23 November

1. 10th of Ramadan Prosecution Office in Sharqia investigated citizen (Nabil Bayoumi Awad Ali) after arresting him from his homes, accused him of joining a terrorist group and spreading false new, and placed him in pretrial detention pending investigations.

2- Detention Renewal:

Tuesday, 21 November

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Circuit-II, in Badr Prison renewed the detention for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases. Case Numbers are 867 of 2005, 471 of 2017, 1331 of 2018, 563 of 2019, 1780 of 2019, 58 of 2020, 460 of 2020, 502 of 2020, 534 of 2020, 558 of 2020, 730 of 2020, 786 of 2020, 1056 of 27 39 of 2021, 2976 of 2021, 5 of 2022, 40 of 2022, 305 of 2022, 440 of 2022, 1540 of 2022, 1633 of 2022, 1654 of 2022, 1940 of 2022, 2069 of2022, 2135 of2022, 2182 of 2 022, 2514 of 2022, 88 of 2023, 422 of 2023, 510 of 2023, 524 of 2023, 585 of 2023, 633 of 2023, 860 for the year 2023, 1233 of 2023, 1301 of 2023, 1470 of 2023, Supreme State Security.
2. Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of  doctor and activist Haitham Khalifa for spreading false news, for 15 days pending investigations in Case No. 2123 of 2023, Supreme State Security.

 

Wednesday, 22 November

1. Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases. Case Numbers are 725 of 2014, 29 of 2016, 277 of 2019, 488 of 2019 including journalist Mustafa Al-Khateeb, 515 of 2019, 810 of 2019, including publisher Ismail El-Kamari, 1118 of 2019, 1318 of 2019, 140 0 of 2019, 1470 of 2019 1779 of 2019, 571 of 2020, 1021 of 2020, 1110 of 2020, 482 of 2021, 1934 of 2021, 2207 of 2021, 1097 of 2022, 1473 of 2022, 1493 of 2022, 1643 of 2022, 1650 of 2022, 1910 of 2022, 2216 of 2022, 2572 of 2022, 85 of 2022, 130 of 2022, 185 of 2022, 192 of 2022, 333 of 2022, Supreme State Security.

 

Thursday, 23 November

1. Banha Total Prosecution Office in Sharqia renewed the detention of  activist Ahmed Hamdi Al-Sayed, known as Ahmed Jeeka for 15 days pending investigations in Case No. 3117 of 2023, Kafr Shukr Administrative.
2. Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Circuit-III, in Badr Prison renewed the detention for dozens of citizens held in pre-trial detention pending cases. Case Numbers are 977 of 2017, 640 of 2018, 1555 of 2018, 1335 of 2019, 484 of 2021, 909 of 2021, 912 of 2021, 1984 of 2021, 2055 of 2021, 2064 of 20 21, 2215 of 2021, 2739 of 2021, 5 of 2022, 93 of 2022, 200 of 2022, 1020 of 2022, 1635 of 2022, 1752 of 2022, 1977 of 2022, 2412 of 2022, 330 of 2023, 392 of 2023, 510 of 2023, 641 of 2023, 716 of 2023, 1468 of 2023, 1582 of 2023, Supreme State Security.

3- Release

Saturday, 25 November 

1. Terrorism Circuit at the Zagazig Criminal Court in Sharqia released Osama Abu Hatab Al-Said, Abdel-Rahman Raafat, and Emad Al-Din Atwa Ahmed, with the guarantee of their place of residence in Case No. 74521 of 2021, Zagazig, for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention.
2. The same court released citizen Sameh Ahmed Shawqi with a guarantee of his residence in Case No. 1563 of 2021, Zagazig-II, for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention.
3. The same court released citizen/Ahmed Saber Abdel Hamid Abdullah with the guarantee of his residence in Case No. 17018 of 2021, Zagazig-II, for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention.

 

4- Trials:

Monday, 20 November

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-I Terrorism held in Badr Prison postponed the trail of 11 defendants, in the case known in the media as the Second Shorouk case, to the sentencing session on 17 March 2024.

 

Tuesday, 21 November

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-I Terrorism held in Badr Prison, postponed the trial of 1 defendant, in the case known in the media as Helwan ISIS Case to session on 3 December 2023.
2. Hahia Misdemeanor Court, Terrorism Circuit postponed the trial of 5 defendant; Ahmed Ali Ibrahim Ezz, Muhammad Ahmed Al-Maliki, Muhammad Attia Abdel Hamid, Ahmed Mansour Salah Al-Ganaini, and Muhammad Al-Said Youssef Al-Dab, on charges of publishing false news and statements to the sentencing session on 28 November, 2023.

 

Saturday, 25 November

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Circuit-III held in Badr Prison postponed the trial of 111 defendants in the case known in the media as Tala’i Hasm and Lewaa al-Thawra case to the sentencing session 20 January 2024.

 

Sunday, 26 November

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-III held in Badr Prison postponed the trail of 57 defendant in the case known in the media as the reviving the specific committees in Helwan.

5- Judicial Rulings:

Tuesday 21 November

1. Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Circuit-I held in Badr Prison, ruled o reject the complaint by 1 defendant to stop the implementation of the 10-year aggravated prison sentence against him in the case known in the media as the Al-Tebbin Juvenile Case.

 

Saturday, 25 November

1. Terrorism Circuit at the Zagazig Misdemeanor Court ruled for the acquittal of (Muhammad Baghdadi Abdel-Galeel, Abdel-Azim Abdallah, Mohamed Fawzi Abdel-Badie, Nasser Al-Said, Ahmed Suleiman, Mohamed Abdu Abdel-Hamid, Ahmed Emad Abdel-Maaboud Mohamed, Ahmed Mohamed Al-Said Ibrahim Radwan), and imprisonment for two years for Mohammad Musleh Mohammad Ali Al-Gharbawi, Al-Baraa Imam Abdel Hafeez, and Ahmed Maher Mohsen Abdel Hamid on charges of possessing publications and publishing false news and data.
2. The same department acquitted 8 citizens and imprisoned two from Al-Qareen for two on charges of publishing false news and statements and possessing inflammatory publications.
3. The same department acquitted 24 citizens and imprisoned 6 from Abu Hammad for two years on charges of publishing false news and data and possessing inflammatory publications.

 

6- Actions of the Public Prosecution and Investigating Judges

Thursday 23 November

1. The investigating judge at the Cairo Court of Appeal to investigate Case No. 173 of 2011, known in the media as the Civil Society Case, issued an order with no basis. The order was for filing a criminal case before the Land Center for Human Rights, while removing the names in the order from the travel-ban lists, as well as the lists prohibiting them from disposing of property, liquid or movable funds.

 

7- Statements:

Wednesday 22 November

1. Ministry of the Interior official Facebook page published a statement denying what was on one of Tik-Tok personal accounts regarding the allegation that police officers from the South Sinai Security Directorate assaulted a person while he was riding in his car.

8- Prisons

Monday 20 November

1. On the 16-day campaign to combat violence against women, the Prison Service decided to grant all female inmates an “exceptional visit” during the period from 11/21/2023 until 12/7/2023, while not counting them among the visits scheduled for inmates.

Legal Comment

 

Terrorism courts in Badr Prison continued – throughout the week – to renew the detention of citizens for 45 days, pending the Supreme State Security Prosecution investigation, giving a clear and explicit indication of the unwillingness to radically end the pretrial detention file.

This is happening in a country that has transformed pretrial detention from being a limited precautionary measure a means of torture and revenge against opponents of the current regime.

 

In a rare case, indicating that there are judges who do not follow the National Security instructions to control the destinies of citizens, 2 terrorism chambers in the misdemeanor courts in Sharqia acquitted nearly 30 citizens of vague accusations with no evidence, except investigations by National Security officers, which is an accusation of possession of inflammatory papers and spreading false news.

 

The investigating judge assigned by the Cairo Court of Appeal to investigate the case known in the media as the civil society case, ordered that there is no basis for filing a criminal case before the Land Center for Human Rights,

The decision came as a positive step, but not serious move towards closing the issue of civil society organizations, in light of the extreme slowness of the assigned investigating judges and the presence of a number of independent human rights organizations that are still under unfinished investigations.

This confirms the absence of any political will such as that which resulted in the acquittal of workers in international organizations in 2018, to completely close the case and open the public space for civil society organizations to work freely without pressure.