AFTE’s Weekly Legal Bulletin (24-31 October 2021)

Date : Sunday, 31 October, 2021
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The detention of 3 defendants was renewed, the pretrial detention of 2 others was replaced with precautionary measures; AFTE filed two lawsuits demanding that Ahmed Doma and Omar Mohamed Ali resume their studies online, and the trial of Dr. Ayman Mansour Nada was adjourned to 22 November

The Legal Bulletin covers the lawsuits in which AFTE provides the necessary legal aid, in accordance with AFTE’s action framework.

Criminal Courts

 Despite exceeding the maximum period of pretrial detention according to the Criminal Procedures Law, the Criminal Court decided on 24 October to renew the detention of Belal Abdel Razek for 45 days, in connection with Case No. 488 of 2019 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).

A plainclothes police force arrested Abdel Razek on 1 March 2019 for his participation in a protest in Alexandria.

In connection with the same case, the Criminal Court decided on 24 October to replace Mohamed Gaber Soliman’s pretrial detention with a precautionary measure.

Soliman, a member of the High Committee of the “Strong Egypt” Party, was arrested on 25 September 2019, from his workplace in the 10th of Ramadan City.

The prosecution charged both Abdel Razek and Soliman with joining a terrorist group, promoting its goals, spreading false news, and misusing social media.

In the same context, the Criminal Court also decided on 24 October to replace Alaa Zaki Mohamed’s pretrial detention with a precautionary measure and renewed another defendant’s detention in connection with Case No. 751 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).

The precautionary measures imposed on Mohamed require him to be present in the police station in his neighborhood for several hours on certain days. The prosecution charged both defendants with joining a group established in contravention of the constitution and the law, namely the “Ultras White Knights” group.

On 26 October, the South Cairo Criminal Court adjourned to 22 November the trial of Dr. Ayman Mansour Nada, the head of the radio and television department at Cairo University’s Faculty of Mass Communication, as per the defense panel’s request in order to review the case papers.

Nada is being tried in connection with Case No. 9840 of 2021 over articles published on a Facebook account attributed to him. He faces charges of publicly and maliciously publishing false news about Egyptian media that would disturb public peace and harm the public interest. He also faces charges of insulting the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) by describing it as tyrant, and also insulting the National Press Authority and the SCMR head Karam Gabr. Nada was also charged with insulting SCMR members Rania Metwally Hashem and Abdel-Sadiq Muhammad Abdel-Aziz, as well as head of the media syndicate Tariq Ali Mohamed.

Nada’s defense team requested to assign an expert from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority to examine the Facebook account that published the articles and indicate the account’s owner. The defense team also pleaded that the Criminal Court has no jurisdiction to hear this case, as the law provides for the jurisdiction of the Economic Court to consider such accusations.

District Courts

 The New Cairo Court decided on 26 October to renew the detention of Dr. Nada for 15 days, in connection with Case No. 23 of 2021, in which he faces charges of insulting the president of Cairo University and several university officials and using his Facebook account to commit the crime.

The accusations come against the background of some articles in which Nada criticized Cairo University, in addition to several financial and administrative violations supported by documents, which led the university president and advisors to submit reports against him to the Public Prosecutor.

State Council Courts

 On Monday 25 October, AFTE’s filed two lawsuits before the Administrative Judiciary Court at the State Council, one on behalf of Ahmed Doma and another on behalf of Omar Mohamed Ali, challenging the negative decision not to allow them to resume their studies online. The lawsuits were filed against both the Minister of Higher Education and the Minister of Interior.

Doma is serving a 15-year jail term in connection with Case No. 8629 of 2011 (El-Sayida Zainab Felonies), in a case that carried No. 5057 of 76 judicial year. He is a student at the Institute of Arab Research and Studies. He submitted a written request to allow him to attend the lectures online. However, the institute’s administration required a written approval from the Prisons Sector. Therefore, Doma submitted a request to the competent authority, but it rejected the request without giving reasons.

 Ali is serving a life sentence in connection with Case. No. 174 of 2015 (West Cairo Military Felonies), in a case that carried No. 5050 of 76 judicial year. He submitted a request to the Ministry of Higher Education and Thebes Higher Academy to complete his architecture studies online. He had previously been dismissed from the Academy for his long absence. However, the Prisons Sector rejected his request without giving reasons.

In the two lawsuits, ِAFTE demanded that both Doma and Ali be allowed to resume their studies online by attending lectures virtually at the Prisons Sector’s digitally-equipped halls. The Prisons Sector had previously cooperated with the Ministry of Justice to hold several sessions on detention renewals virtually at these halls, where defendants attend and judges consider the renewal of their detention. This proves that the Prisons Sector has the capabilities required to facilitate the appellants’ resumption of their studies.

To view Ahmed Doma’s lawsuit, click here.

To view Omar Mohamed Ali’s lawsuit, click here.

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