During February, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) monitored the state and problems of freedom of thought and expression in Egypt. Through its various units’ activities, AFTE issued statements and reports that take a deeper look at some of the issues of freedom of thought and expression currently raised and provided legal aid in cases related to freedom of thoughts and expression.
Publications:
Publication of paper entitled From Vienna to Tora.. A legal reading of the case of researcher Ahmed Samir Santawy where AFTE presents a detailed reading of Case 774 of 2021 (Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court in the First Settlement), registered under No. 877 of 2021 (Supreme State Security), in which the Emergency Supreme State Security Court sentenced researcher Ahmed Samir Santawy to four years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 500 pounds on charges of publishing false news on a Facebook account attributed to him.
Report “Drying up the sources of freedom” From the street to the internet, The annual report on the state of freedom of expression in Egypt in 2021, This report analyzes the Egyptian authorities’ general policies towards the right to freedom of expression in its various forms, specifically freedom of the press and media, the right to access information, freedom of creativity and artistic expression, student rights, academic freedom and the
and Appendix on the most prominent patterns of violations in the field of freedom of expression, that documents the most prominent patterns of violations in the field of media freedom that journalists are exposed to and the most prominent patterns of violations in the field of digital rights that content creators have been subjected to, as well as the violations recorded by the AFTE on the violations against the right to peaceful protest and assembly.
Statements:
AFTE issued the following statement during February:
Joint statement: Human rights organizations call on the Public Prosecution to drop the investigation of Ibrahim Issa as AFTE and other human rights NGOs condemn the Public Prosecutor Hamada El-Sawy’s decision to refer journalist Ibrahim Issa to investigation against the backdrop of complaints filed against him regarding statements he had made during his “Cairo Talk” TV show. The organizations call on the Public Prosecutor to drop these complaints.
Legal Aid:
– Disciplinary hearing of Dr. Manar Al-Tantawy adjourned to March 16
– Ahmed Doma’s lawsuit referred to the State Commissioners Authority and Omar Mohamed’s lawsuit adjourned, on demanding to allow them to remotely resume their studies.
– The Criminal Court renews the detention of Marwa Arafa for 45 days
– Criminal Court renews lawyer Amr Nohan’s detention for 45 days
– Supreme State Security Prosecution annuls the precautionary measures of six defendants
– Despite suffering from leukemia; Criminal Court renews lawyer Mohamed Elsayed Abdel-Fatah’s detention for 45 days
– Criminal Court renews Naglaa Fathy Fouad’s detention for 45 days
– Criminal Court renews Nour Al-Din Shaker’s detention for 45 days
– Criminal Court renews the detention of three defendants
– Criminal Court renews Ahmed Hassanein Mohamed Moussa’s detention for 45 days
– Criminal Court renews Mohammad Abd-Ellah Mokhaimer’s precautionary measures for 45 days
– Criminal Court releases Ebrahim Abdel-Samie with precautionary measures.
– Trail session of Haneen Hossam on human trafficking adjourned to March 22
– State Commissioners Authority adjourns hearing of appeal against the refusal to grant Manar Al-Tantawi her professorship to decide its legal opinion
– Dismissing the appeal of Emad El-Sayed Ali Radwan against his detention order
– The Prosecution appeals against the decision to release Emad El-Sayed Ali Radwan
– Implementation of the decision to release Quranist blogger Reda Abdel-Rahman after a year and a half of pretrial detention
– Criminal Court renews Belal Abdel Razek’s detention for 45 days
– Criminal Court renews Hamed Sedeek’s detention for 45 days
– The Prosecution’s appeal against the decision to release Emad El-Sayed Ali Radwan dismissed
– Mohammad Abd-Ellah Mokhaimer’s precautionary measures annulled & released under the guarantee of his place of residence
– Mohamed Essam released; his precautionary measures annulled
