12 January 2023 

On January 12, the Criminal Court (2nd Terrorism Circuit) held at Badr Court upheld the absentee verdict issued against Badr Mohammed to five years in prison, pending case No. 4163 of 2013, known in the media as “Al-Fateh Mosque’s clashes” or “Ramsis clashes.” 

The events of the case date back to August 16, 2013 -when Badr was only 17 years old- while he was on his way to Al-Fagala, Ramsis district; to buy school supplies, and clashes began between the protesters and the police forces, so he and others had to hide inside the Al-Fatah Mosque to protect themselves from gunfire, the following day the police broke into the mosque and arrested everyone inside, Badr was detained to 3 months before his release for being a minor, in 2019, he was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison against charges of participating in an illegal gathering, destruction of public and private properties, joining a terrorist group, disrupting public transportation and endangering the lives of citizens.

On May 11, 2020, police forces arrested Badr from his house in the presence of his family while they were having Iftar during Ramadan; he has been in detention since then, and given that the previous verdict against him was issued in absentia; the Court decided for a retrial, and due to the continuous postponement, Badr spent Almost 32 months awaiting his final verdict. 

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression calls on the Egyptian authorities to release Badr, since he did not commit any real crime, and to reunite him again with his Austrian wife Elena, and their infant daughter Amina, as there is no evidence indicating his participation in riots, not to mention being a minor when the clashes took place and his presence nearby was purely coincidental.