The issue of detainees has returned to the forefront in Egypt, with the holding of trial sessions for a number of political activists, and the Prisoners of Conscience Committee organizing a conference and photo exhibition to demand their release.
Douma trial
The New Cairo Misdemeanor Court has set June 3 as the date for issuing the verdict against political activist and poet Ahmed Douma in the case in which he faces charges of “deliberately broadcasting false news, statements and rumors inside and outside the country, which would disturb public peace and spread confusion.”
Douma reiterated his request to the court to conduct an inspection of his prison cell, to demonstrate the continued lighting of the prison lights throughout the day, which leads to psychological exhaustion of the prisoners, as well as to ascertain who has the right to access the prison lighting control buttons.
Douma stressed to the court the necessity for the prosecution to go to his place of detention to search it in accordance with what the law authorizes it to do.
He stressed to the court the need for the prosecution to go to his place of detention to inspect it in accordance with the powers granted to it by law to verify the accuracy of what he published.
Douma’s defense requested that Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, head of the Strong Egypt Party, Ahmed Abu Baraka, and lawyer Essam Sultan, who are currently detained in the Badr prison’s reform and rehabilitation center, be summoned to testify to the validity of Douma’s claims.
He also requested to hear the defense witnesses present, namely the two former members of parliament, lawyer Ziad El-Alimi, who was previously detained in Badr 1, and journalist Ahmed Tantawi, who was previously detained in the Tenth of Ramadan prison, to verify the validity of Douma’s reports.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution detained Douma on April 6, when it interrogated him over an opinion piece he wrote entitled “From Prison Inside the State to the State Inside Prison,” which addressed the idea of the impact of unjust imprisonment on the stability of the state, in addition to questioning him about a comment he made on “Facebook” regarding the conditions of detention in prisons, and the continuous lighting that is psychologically exhausting for prisoners, before referring him to trial on April 27.
Douma spent nearly ten years in prison before receiving a presidential pardon for the remainder of his sentence. Since his release, he has faced a series of restrictions and legal harassments that have prevented him from recovering from his decade in prison or living a normal life. In addition to being banned from traveling and denied official documents, he has been summoned by the State Security Prosecution for questioning six times for posts he made on his personal social media account or for writing opinion pieces, some of which recounted his experience of detention and defended the rights of detainees guaranteed by law and the constitution.
Douma spent about ten years in prison before receiving a presidential pardon for the remainder of his sentence.
During the two years Douma spent outside prison, the Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated him six times on similar charges, and released him on bail amounting to 230,000 Egyptian pounds, before he was arrested after the sixth and final investigation.
In this context, an Egyptian court postponed the trial of cartoonist Ashraf Omar and journalists Yasser Abu El-Ela and Ramadan Gouda, in a case in which they were accused of matters related to terrorism, to a session on July 13.
The Egyptian Observatory for Press and Media reported on its Facebook page that Omar was present at the session from his place of detention, while Abu Al-Ala and Juwaida were absent, and the Public Prosecution read the referral order.
He added that Omar faces, according to the referral order, two charges of participating in a terrorist group to achieve its goals, and committing a financing crime, while Jwaida and Abu Al-Ala face two charges of joining a terrorist group, and committing a crime of financing terrorism.
He pointed out that security forces had arrested Omar from his home at dawn on July 22, 2024, and taken him to an unknown location for two days, before he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution and was interrogated.
enforced disappearance
This comes at a time when the family of director Omar Salah Marei has renewed its appeal to the Attorney General to reveal his whereabouts and enable him to communicate with his lawyer and family, following his disappearance since his arrest last Monday, without any security or judicialauthority announcing his place of detention, the reason for his arrest, or his legal status.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms condemned the arrest of Marai and his detention in an unknown location.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms condemned the arrest of Mar’i and his detention in an unknown location, without any information being given to his family or lawyer since his arrest last Monday, or even without disclosing the reasons for the arrest or providing the family with official documents stating this.
According to Omar Salah’s family, security forces arrested him from his home at 7:00 PM on Monday. A security force stormed the apartment violently, destroying the contents of the house before taking him to an unknown location, according to his family.
Photo Gallery
The Committee for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience organized a photo exhibition of prisoners of conscience in the “Bread and Freedom” party. The event included photos and information about a number of prisoners and the participation of a number of prisoners’ families and supportive figures, including members of parliament, the National Council for Human Rights and party leaders.
During the event, Omar al-Jabakhnji, the father of cartoonist Ashraf Omar, called for the release of prisoners of conscience, urging the establishment of clear criteria to distinguish them from those accused in criminal cases. He stated that the charges against his son were fabricated.
Nada Mughith, Omar’s wife, said that dealing with the issue of pretrial detention as “only a legal issue” ignores the far-reaching effects of detention on families, stressing the need to build a unified position for the various parties and civil institutions to talk about the violations associated with it.
Political opponent Ahmed Tantawi believes that defending political prisoners is inseparable from defending the future.
She added that security services may be seeking, in addition to revenge, to dismantle social ties, but she saw that the prison experience sometimes produces other “deeper and stronger” bonds between the prisoners themselves or between them and their families outside prison.
She spoke about her husband’s experience in prison, saying that he used his time in prison to learn and read, as he learned Spanish and read hundreds of books, and he also helped some prisoners learn English and become literate.
She added that she receives messages from former inmates who speak of his support for them inside the prison, and of the daily discussions he shared with them about books, music and movies, before reading excerpts from letters and testimonies sent by former prisoners and friends who support him during her speech.During his speech at the conference, political opponent Ahmed Tantawi said that defending political prisoners is inseparable from defending the future, considering that those who once shared the political dream bear a shared responsibility towards those inside prisons.
He called for greater solidarity among the various parties, and for working through a well-thought-out, diverse, and gradual plan in dealing with the authorities.
Criticism of the opposition
Rafida Hamdi, wife of political activist Mohamed Adel, former spokesperson for the April 6 Movement, criticized the opposition parties' stance on the issue of prisoners of conscience. She said, "The authorities are the primary and main perpetrators of my tragedy, but the opposition is also complicit."
She added that the Egyptian Democratic Party had requested support during the last presidential elections, in which the party's leader, Farid Zahran, participated, but subsequently disappeared from the scene. She also criticized the National Council for Human Rights, saying, "I don't know what they're doing, and if I were in their place, I would be deeply ashamed."
Rafida Hamdi, the wife of activist Mohamed Adel, criticized the opposition parties' stance on the issue of prisoners of conscience.
Rafida concluded her speech: “Perhaps the authorities have justifications; they consider prisoners of conscience a danger to them. But I have no justification for those who call themselves the political elite, and many of the opposition elite are much worse in my opinion.”
Rafida’s journey with prisons began in 2013, with Mohamed’s first imprisonment, in the case in which he was accused of demonstrating without a permit with activists Ahmed Douma and Ahmed Maher. He was sentenced at the time to 3 years in prison, during which he was transferred between two prisons. He initially spent a year and several months in Tora Prison, before completing the remaining three years in Tora Investigation Prison. He left prison to begin his journey with police surveillance (a sentence that requires spending the entire night in the police station). He actually spent a year and a half of the surveillance period that extends for three years, before he was detained again while he was in the police station, in June 2018.
Human Rights Council
The Vice President of the National Council for Human Rights, Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, defended the Council’s role, saying that it is still completing the formation of its committees and working groups after its recent restructuring, but it continues to follow up on the complaints of the families of detainees and work on some files related to visits and inspections inside detention facilities.
He added that the council is cooperating with the Public Prosecution on these cases, but it cannot assess the extent of the response or what has actually been achieved, considering that to be “the responsibility of the Public Prosecution.”
Sadat: The national dialogue was supposed to lead to a review of the conditions of some detainees.
Regarding the issue of pretrial detention, Sadat said that the national dialogue was supposed to lead to a review of the conditions of some detainees, but the releases were limited and not at the desired level, considering that the crisis is related to what is applied in practice more than to legal or constitutional texts, saying that the absence of a real will means the continuation of the status quo.
Academic Laila Soueif said that the authorities only release people from prison when they feel that they have become a source of concern and a headache, calling for an intensification of solidarity activities through vigils, seminars, conferences and symbolic strikes.
She considered the continued pressure a collective responsibility, demanding that support for the detainees not be abandoned and that their situation be treated as an urgent humanitarian issue, saying that “any action, however limited it may seem, must be intensive and continuous.”
Pretrial detention
Meanwhile, Islam Salama, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience and a member of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said that many defendants in political cases face long periods of pretrial detention from the moment of arrest until trial, despite the absence of real evidence.
Salama said that many defendants in political cases face long periods of pretrial detention.
He pointed to the case of activist and translator Marwa Arafa, who he said spent about five years between pretrial detention and trial after being accused of joining a terrorist group, considering that the accusations against her were completely far from the truth.
Marwa Arafa was arrested on April 20, 2020, after a security force stormed her home and took her to an unknown location. Two weeks later, she appeared before the State Security Prosecution, which charged her with joining a terrorist group and committing a financing crime, and ordered her pretrial detention. However, it did not investigate her family's reports regarding her enforced disappearance, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
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