December 22 Session
Supreme State Security Prosecution
The Supreme State Security Prosecution has renewed the detention of one person for 15 days; he is:
– Mohamed Youssef Mohamed Ibrahim, pending investigations in case No. 4092 of 2024, Supreme State Security.
On August 24, 2024, Ibrahim was arrested on the street after being contacted by an individual who offered him a job in a Gulf country. He was scheduled to meet this individual on the same day, but Ibrahim was surprised to discover that the person communicating with him was a National Security officer. He remained undisclosed, unknown to his family or lawyer, until he was presented to the Supreme State Security Prosecution on August 26, 2024.
The prosecution has charged Ibrahim with joining a terrorist organization, being aware of its objectives, and publishing and broadcasting false news and statements that could harm public security and order. He was also charged with using a social media account to publish and broadcast false news and statements.
It is worth noting that the prosecution confronted Ibrahim with Facebook posts in which he expressed complaints about rising prices and difficult living conditions.
December 23 Sessions
Criminal Court
The Cairo Criminal Court decided to renew the detention of one person for 45 days; he is:
– Journalist Khaled Mamdouh Mohamed Ibrahim, pending investigation in case number 1282 of the 2024 Supreme State Security Prosecution.
Mamdouh was arrested on July 16 following a raid on his home, during which he was detained and forcibly disappeared for six days. He was presented to the prosecution on July 21, where he was charged with joining a terrorist group while being aware of its objectives, committing one of the crimes of financing a terrorist group and spreading and disseminating false news and information that could harm security and public order. The prosecution seized his phone and laptop.
On July 17, AFTE filed a complaint with the Attorney General, numbered 846067 for the year 2024, detailing the events of security forces raiding the home of journalist Khaled Mamdouh and taking him to an unknown place on July 16.
In the complaint, AFTE stated that a security force searched Mamdouh’s home randomly and refused to disclose their identities, their affiliation, or the reason for his arrest.
His family has been unable to determine his place of detention or communicate with him before presenting him to the prosecution.
It is worth mentioning that Mamdouh’s arrest report was dated July 20, not the date of his actual arrest on July 16.
Administrative Court
The Administrative Court for Education and its Affiliates in Abbasiya adjourned the hearing of appeal no. 5117 of 71, filed by a client of the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) against Cairo University and the Faculty of Dentistry, regarding the decision to deny her appointment as a teaching assistant based on a security clearance refusal to the upcoming session on January 28 for a ruling.
The court had previously postponed the case during its session on November 19, 2024, pending the submission of the State Commissioners Authority’s report.
December 24 Sessions
Criminal Court
The Cairo Criminal Court has decided to renew the detention of 4 defendants for 45 days pending investigations while acquitting one defendant. They are:
1- Student Ahmed Khaled El-Toukhy, pending trial no. 955 of 2020 Supreme State Security.
El-Toukhy is charged with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and statements that could disturb public security and order, and using a social media account, “Facebook,” to spread false news and information.
It should be noted that he had a release order from the Criminal Court on March 21, 2021, pending Case No. 532 of 2021 Shibin Al Qanater misdemeanor on the same charges. Still, that order wasn’t implemented, and he was unjustly detained in an unknown place for his family and lawyers until he was presented before the prosecution after 3 months, who ordered to detain him in the current case.
Based on a phone call, el-Toukhy was arrested after he headed to the National Security Premises on September 26, 2020. He didn’t appear until January 12, 2021, before the Shebin Elkom Prosecution decided to detain him.
2- Asmaa Mohamed Zakariya, pending investigations in Case No. 2810 of 2024, Supreme State Security Prosecution.
On June 29, 2024, Asmaa turned herself in at the police station near her home after a police force visited her house in her absence. She was stopped there unlawfully until she was brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on July 3, 2024.
The prosecution has charged her with joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its aims, spreading false news and statements that could harm public security, and using a social media account to spread and broadcast false information.
The prosecution challenged her with several posts about the electricity outage crisis on her Facebook account, and she was also confronted with her mobile phone, which she admitted to owning.
It is worth noting that Asmaa is a mother of two young children, for whom she is responsible.
3- Yasser Mohamed Fouad Shaheen, pending investigations in Case No. 2810 of 2024, Supreme State Security.
Shaheen was arrested on June 29 due to posts on his Facebook account. He remained unlawfully detained in an undisclosed location, unknown to his family, until he was brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on July 16, 2024.
The prosecution charged him with joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes, publishing and broadcasting false news and statements that could harm security and public order, and using a social media account to disseminate false news.
The prosecution confronted Shaheen with his mobile phone and Facebook posts, which discussed the economic situation in Egypt, Egypt’s stance on supporting the Palestinian cause, and political opinions on some government decisions.
4- Ahmed Essam Abbas, pending investigations in Case No. 2810 of 2024, Supreme State Security.
Abbas was arrested on June 29, 2024, due to posts on his Facebook account that included comparing commodity and service prices between 2013 and 2024. He remained unlawfully detained in an undisclosed location, unknown to his family, until he was brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on July 16, 2024.
5- The Cairo Criminal Court has ruled in the case known in the media as the “Rabaa Operations Room,” case no. 2210 of 2014, where journalist Hassan Al-Qabany was accused due to a case of mistaken identity. The court acquitted him of all charges.
The case had been postponed several times, with sessions initially scheduled for March 27, May 12, July 27, September 9, and finally, November 12 due to the absence of a key witness.
On April 11 2015, a verdict was issued in absentia, sentencing Al-Qabany to life imprisonment without notifying him of his trial or conducting an investigation. He was accused of joining an illegal group with knowledge of its aims, participating in a criminal agreement to overthrow the state’s constitution and government by force, and spreading false news and statements both domestically and internationally regarding the country’s internal situation. Al-Qabany submitted a request for a retrial after his arrest in early May 2023.
