Detention renewals
On September 23, the Criminal Court (Second Circuit) renewed the detention of lawyer Saied Hassan Ali, pending investigations of lawsuit No. 238 of 2021 (Supreme State Security), for 45 days.
Ali was subjected to the practice of “rotation,” which is known as the re-imprisonment of those who were released after a prison sentence ended or were acquitted. Ali appeared as a defendant in this lawsuit after his release in another one, the lawyer and human rights defender faces accusations of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.
September 24 hearings:
The Criminal Court (Second Circuit) renewed the detention of Mohamed Ahmed Saad for 45 days, pending investigations of lawsuit No. 930 of 2019 (Supreme State Security). Despite the illegality of Saad’s continued detention, he exceeded the maximum period of pretrial detention stipulated by the law.
Lawsuit No. 930 of 2019, which is known as “the Alliance of Hope lawsuit.” included a large number of political activists; most of them were released, although Saad was not involved in any political activity. Security forces arrested Saad from inside the examination hall at the Faculty of Commerce at Al-Azhar University on May 17, 2019. He faces accusations of joining a terrorist group, financing this group, spreading false news and information, and using a social media account to spread false news.
The Criminal Court (Third Circuit) renewed the detention of translator and activist Marwa Arafa for 45 extra days, pending investigations of lawsuit No. 570 of 2020 (Supreme State Security), in which Arafa has been detained since April 2020.
Arafa faces accusations of joining and financing a terrorist group. Based on an accusation that she was financially supporting prisoners, Arafa denied the accusation and stated that she was only trying to help those in need, including the families of prisoners who may have lost their sole breadwinner, and even then, she had not provided any financial support, but only provided supplies such as food and clothing.
Releases
The Supreme State Security Prosecution released content creators Ahmed Tarek and Basma Hegazy, known as “Chicolata” and “Warda” under the guarantee of their place of residence, pending lawsuit No. 184 of 2023 (Supreme State Security).
They were arrested for publishing satirical video clips, the most recent of which was a video called “The Visit,” where a girl visits her boyfriend in prison after he argued with someone in power, referred to in the video as “the governor.” They have previously published a video titled “The General Prosecutor” discussing price hikes sarcastically and another video about the deterioration of the value of the Egyptian pound against the dollar. They faced accusations of joining a terrorist group, committing the crime of financing terrorism, spreading false news and information, and using social media accounts to spread false news and information.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution released four students organizers of the sarcastic event “Batman Helwan,” physical therapy student Anas Mahmoud Zahran, cooperation institute student Karim Mohamed Refaat, and high school students Mazen Reda and Eslam Nagdy, under the guarantee of their place of residence and pending investigations of lawsuit No. 440 of 2022.
The four students were arrested on July 4, 2022, after their event went viral among social media users. They faced accusations of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and inciting a terrorist act.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution also released Zamalek football club fan Mohamed Abdul Latif under the guarantee of his place of residence. pending lawsuit No. 2000 of 2021 (Supreme State Security).
Security forces arrested Abdul Latif from his workplace in Fagala in August 2021, and he forcibly disappeared for two weeks before being brought before the investigation authorities against charges of joining a terrorist group (Ultras White Knights), spreading false news and information, and using social media to publish false news.
Violations against academics
24 September 2023:
The Administrative Judicial Court (Sixth Circuit of Education) set next October 10 hearing to examine AFTE’s appeal No. 2330 of 70 filed on behalf of AFTE’s client challenging Helwan University’s decision not to hire her for lack of security approval so that the university can submit a copy of its decision No. 526 in which the University agreed to assign the plaintiff to the position of teaching assistant at the university.
The court had referred the appeal to the State Commissioners Authority to consult its legal opinion. In its report, the State Commissioners Authority recommended the Court accept AFTE’s appeal and annul the University’s negative decision to exclude the plaintiff from hiring; it also added that the opinion of the security authorities shouldn’t be conditional on hiring faculty staff and that it shouldn’t be reliable evidence for the administrative authorities to issue a decision to appoint faculty staff or not.
It is worth noting that the plaintiff is one of the first graduates of the 2021 class of the Faculty of Art Education at Helwan University and the university informed her of her official nomination to fill the position of teaching assistant at the university, and her name was included in University’s decision No. 526 of 2022 and accordingly, the plaintiff submitted her papers, but the university agreed to appoint other teaching assistants as they had the security approval to hire them and declined to appoint the plaintiff due to lack of security approval for her appointment.
On the other hand, The disciplinary board of appeal at the Ministry of Higher Education adjourned to November 15, the examination of appeal against the disciplinary lawsuit against Manar Al-Tantawy filed by the Higher Technological Institute No. 18 of 2021 in which the disciplinary board to deduct 15 days of her salary over videos of Al-Tantawy calling for the release of her husband, Hisham Gaafar, in front of the Journalists Syndicate; to complete the submission of documents requested by the Council from Al-Tantawy’s defense and the institute’s administration.
The investigating judge rejected Al-Tantawy’s defense request to examine these videos by a technical expert. He also demanded the institute to submit a statement of the acquittal in the other disciplinary lawsuit filed by the institute against Al-Tantawy No. 20 of 2023, in which Al-Tantawy was maliciously accused of impersonating the head of the mechanical engineering department at the institute.
The institute accused Al-Tantawy of insulting the Higher Technological Institute in the 10th of Ramadan City and its dean via social media and some satellite channels.
