Summary:

1. Withdrawal of the lawyers from the session to renew the detention of journalist Ahmed Sirag before the State Security Prosecution after the Secretary of the Prosecution assaulted the member of the General Syndicate Council, Mr. Mamdouh Abdel Aal.
2. Court renews the detention of activist Sherif El-Rouby among hundreds of citizens, despite his absence from the session due to his illness.
3. Postponing the trial of lawyer Montasser Al-Zayat in the misdemeanor case against him by a member of the House of Representatives from Menoufia.
4. After 7 days of illegal detention, security forces in the Manzala Police Station in Sharqia release Saber Sabry Al-Morsi without filing any cases.
5. Supreme State Security Prosecution continues investigation for dozens of citizens on terrorism charges.

Details

I.                   Prosecution Investigations:

• Supreme State Security Prosecution:

During the bulletin’s coverage period; State Security Prosecution investigates — citizens, under the Anti-Terrorism Law and remanded in custody.

II.                Rotation Pending New Cases:

Monday, 24February

1. Zagazig Total Prosecution in Sharqia rotated Mohamed Ashraf El-Shahat, after investigating and accusing him of joining a terrorist group and then placing him in pretrial detention pending investigations.

III.             Detention Renewal:

Sunday, 23 February

• The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of journalist Ahmed Sirag for 15 days pending case No. 8 of 2025 Supreme State Security, on charges of joining a terrorist group and publishing false news and statements. This occurred after his lawyers had withdrawn from attending the session following the prosecution secretary assaulting a member of the General Syndicate Council, Mr. Mamdouh Abdel Aal.

Monday, 24 February

• The Supreme State Security prosecution renewed the detention of Marwa Sami Abu Zaid for 15 days pending investigations into Case No. 7887 of 2024, Supreme State Security, on the same charges.
• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber -I, held at Badr Prison considered a session to renew the detention of hundreds of citizens pending cases Nos. 534 of 2020, 1056 of 2020, 590 of 2021, 2069 of 2022, 186 of 2023, 508 of 2023, 524 of 2023, 626 of 2023, 717 of 2023, 1301 of 2023, 1973 of 2023, 2063 of 2023 including journalist Mohamed Saad Khattab, 2390 of 2023, 2527 of 2023, 3387 of 2023, 756 of 2024, 1408 of 2024, 1570 of 2024, 1641 of 2024, 2801 of 2024, 2810 of 2024, 3865 of 2024, 3973 of 2024, Supreme State Security.

Tuesday. 25 February

• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber -I, held at Badr Prison considered a session to renew the detention of hundreds of citizens pending cases Nos. 759 of 2014, 148 of 2017, 700 of 2017, 640 of 2018, 1413 of 2019, 910 of 2021, 2000 of 2021, 635 of 2022, 1539 of 2022, 1634 of 2022 including activist Sherif El-Rouby, 2094 of 2022, 2515 of 2022, 60 of 2023, 85 of 2023, 258 of 2023, 440 of 2023, 718 of 2023, 931 of 2023, 1468 of 2023, 1978 of 2023, 2369 of 2023, 2526 of 2023, 2992 of 2023, 3460 of 2023, 3615 of 2023, 655 of 2024, 717 of 2024, 1281 of 2024, 1940 of 2024, 2803 of 2024, 4356 of 2024, 4400 of 2024, 4473 of 2024, 4490 of 2024, Supreme State Security

IV.            Release:

Sunday, 23 February

1. The Egyptian Network for Human Rights published on Facebook that the security forces in Mansoura Police Station in Daqahlia released Saber Sabry Al-Morsi Saber after detaining him for 7 days following his arrest on 17 February and depositing him in the police station without writing a report.

V.               Trials:

Saturday, 23 February

• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III, held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 73 defendants, in Case No. 1172 of 2024, known as the case of the Specialized Committees to the session of 15 April 2025.

Monday, 24 February

• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III, held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 73 defendants, in Case No. 11926 of 2022, 5^th Settlement Felonies, known as the case of Settlement Terrorist Cell to the session of 24 March 2025.
• Sadat Misdemeanor Court in Wadi El Natroun Prison postponed the lawsuit against lawyer Montasser El Zayat by a member of the House of Representatives, accusing him of insulting and defaming him, to the session of 6 April, 2025.

Tuesday, 25 February

• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III, held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 41 defendants, in Case No. 11149 of 2024, Nozha Felonies, known as the case of Al-Nozha Terrorist Cell to the session of 22 March 2025.
• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III, held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 2 defendants, in Case No. 13555 of 2023, Helwan Felonies, known as the case of Delta ISIS Cell to the session of 11 March 2025.
• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-III, held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 2 defendants, in the Case known as the case of Qena ISIS Cell to the session of 23 March 2025.

Saturday, 1 March

• Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-I, held in Badr Prison postponed the retrial of 4 defendants, in the Case no 34150 of 2015, Nasr City-I Felonies, known as the case of Rabia Sit-in Dispersal cell to the session of 20 April 2025.

Legal Comment

Cairo Criminal Court, Terrorism Chamber-I, held in Badr Prison issued its decision to continue the detention of activist Sherif Al-Ruby for 45 days pending investigations into Case No. 1634 of 2022. This was despite his absence from the renewal screen as well as a number of his fellow detainees had informed of his illness and inability to attend the session. This gives a clear message that the law has no place when it comes to pretrial detention. Article 143 of the Criminal Procedure Code obliges the court to hear the accused and his defense before extending his detention, however, ignoring this essential guarantee reveals an approach that does not care about citizen rights or the correctness of the law, and calls into question the impartiality of the court when extension becomes the rule, not the exception.

The trial of lawyer Montasser El-Zayat in a case of defamation and slander,

after him publishing a number of posts about a member of the House of Representatives in Menoufia obtaining land at reduced prices, reflects the exploitation of influence in pursuing opponents and silencing any voice that tries to uncover suspicions of corruption.

Rather than investigating the veracity of the information he published, the tools of the law were used as a weapon to intimidate critical voices, in an attempt to protect those in power from any accountability.

Such cases do not aim to achieve justice as much as they send a clear message: whoever dares to reveal the hidden, will face trial, while the essence of the case—transparency and accountability—remains outside the circle of interest.

Lawyers withdrew from attending the detention renewal session of journalist Ahmed Sirag and hundreds of citizens who were present at the detention renewal session dated 23February. This was a necessary step in confronting the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which has squandered the legal profession and the rights of the accused, especially after the secretary of the renewal session assaulted Mr. Mamdouh Abdel Aal, a member of the General Syndicate Council, and the failure of the Public Prosecution to take any action regarding the incident.

This behavior reveals a systematic policy to undermine the role of the defense and restrict lawyers from performing their mission, which is in stark contradiction with the constitutional and legal principles that guarantee the right to defense and the achievement of justice. Therefore, the position of the lawyers to withdraw is not just a protest, but rather a defense of the values ​​of justice itself.