AFTE’s Weekly Legal Bulletin (6-13 March 2022)

Date : Sunday, 13 March, 2022
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The detention of 11 defendants and the precautionary measures imposed on two others renewed, and the hearing on a lawsuit demanding that Omar Mohamed Ali be allowed to resume his study online postponed to 3 April

Criminal Courts

Sunday 6 March sessions:

The Criminal Court renewed the detention of lawyer Mohamed Ramadan for 45 days pending investigation into his third case, No. 910 of 2021 (Supreme State Security), in which he faces charges of joining a terrorist group.

Ramadan was arrested on 10 December 2018 for posting a personal picture of himself wearing a yellow vest on his Facebook page in solidarity with the yellow vests protests in France at the time.

The Criminal Court also renewed the precautionary measures imposed on Mohamed Galal and Mokhtar Hussein for 45 days in connection with Case No. 1116 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).

Both defendants were arrested in June 2021, and the Supreme State Security Prosecution charged them with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

Monday 7 March sessions:

The Criminal Court (The Third Terrorism Circuit) renewed the detention of translator Marwa Arafa for 45 days in connection with Case No. 570 of 2020 (Supreme State Security).

Arafa was arrested from her house on 20 April 2020. The prosecution charged her with joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes and financing terrorism.

The court also renewed the detention of both accountant Alaa Essam and Amr Abdel-Moneim for 45 days, pending investigation into Case No. 930 of 2019 (Supreme State Security).

Essam and Abdel-Moneim were arrested at different times in 2019. They face charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

Tuesday 8 March sessions:

The Criminal Court (The Second Terrorism Circuit) renewed the detentions of Ahmed Maher Ezzat, known as “Rigo”, Mohamed Salah Abdel-Aziz, Sameh Ramadan Seoudi, and Mohamed Mamdouh Abdel-Halim for 45 days, in connection with Case No. 855 of 2020 (Supreme State Security). The court also decided to release Ahmed Yousry Ghaly with the guarantee of his place of residence in connection with the same case.

The defendants were arrested at different times in 2019 and 2020. Rigo has recently gone on a hunger strike in protest against keeping him in pretrial detention for nearly two years. He was arrested in May 2020. For his part, Salah was arrested in a café in Dokki neighbourhood on 29 November 2019, against the backdrop of a post he wrote about the arrest of activist Esraa Abdel Fatah.

Most of the defendants in Case 855 of 2020 were recycled into other cases, a practice that the Egyptian authorities have been using to keep political opposition activists in detention. The defendants face several charges, including joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

In the same context, the Criminal Court (The Third Terrorism Circuit) renewed the detention of journalist Amer Abdel-Moneim and translator Kholoud Saied Amer for 45 days in connection with Case No. 1017 of 2020 (Supreme State Security).

Security forces arrested Amer from her house in Alexandria on 21 April 2020. She was first listed in connection with Case No. 558 of 2020, and later in connection with the current case. Meanwhile, Abdel-Moneim was arrested from his house on 18 December 2020. Both defendants face charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and using social media to commit a crime.

The Criminal Court (The Third Terrorism Circuit) also renewed the detention of journalist Tawfiq Ghanem for 45 days in connection with Case No. 238 of 2021 (Supreme State Security).

Ghanem was arrested from his home on 21 May 2021 despite the fact that he had stopped all journalistic and media activities. After five days of illegal detention, he appeared before the Supreme State Security on charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.

State Council Courts

On 6 March, the Administrative Judiciary Court (The Sixth Circuit) decided to adjourn to 3 April a hearing to look into lawsuit No. 5050 of 76 filed on behalf of Omar Mohamed Ali, challenging the negative decision not to allow him to resume his study online.

AFTE filed a lawsuit last October against both the Minister of Higher Education and the Minister of Interior in their capacity. The court’s decision to adjourn the hearing came due to the absence of the appellee administrative body as it didn’t submit any documents or memoranda, which impeded the lawsuit’s progress. The court also decided to assign AFTE’s defense panel to announce the administrative body to attend the hearings.

It should be noted that the appellant had received a life sentence in connection with Case. No. 174 of 2015 (West Cairo Military Felonies). He submitted a request to the Ministry of Higher Education and the Thebes High Academy to resume his architecture studies online from his prison cell. However, the administrative bodies rejected his request without giving reasons. He was later dismissed from the Academy for dropping out of the course of study.

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