Abdul Rahman Mohammed - Al Jazeera Net
Amnesty International called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release human rights researcher Patrick George, open an independent investigation into his allegations of torture and ensure his prompt protection. For its part, Italy has called on the European Union to join it in pressuring Cairo to release him.
The Egyptian security forces arrested the human rights researcher and the Egyptian masters student, Patrick George, 27, at Cairo International Airport last Friday, after returning from Italy, where he is studying, and threatened and tortured him before he was presented to the Mansoura Prosecution Office, according to human rights sources.
Patrick's Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights revealed that during his nearly 24-hour hiding period, he was "threatened, tortured and given electric shocks while asked about his work and activity," according to his lawyer.
The Public Prosecution decided to imprison the human rights researcher for 15 days in reserve on charges, most notably "spreading false news and data, inciting demonstrations without permission, inciting the overthrow of the regime, managing a Facebook account for the purpose of disturbing public order."
In a related context, the media quoted Pepe de Cristofaro, a senior official in the Ministry of Education in Italy, inviting him - in a statement Monday - European Union countries to join his country, in pressuring Cairo to launch George, expressing his deep concern about what is happening with him.
Cristofaro stressed that everything must be done to ensure the safety of the human rights researcher and to avoid repetition of unacceptable scenes of torture.
The Egyptian Ministry of Interior had said that it had arrested George "in implementation of a previous decision by the Public Prosecution, which ordered his detention for 15 days pending the investigation of him in criminal cases."
She added in a press statement, "There is no truth to what some suspicious social networking sites circulated regarding the arrest of an Italian named Patrick. One day pending investigation. "
The French news agency quoted analysts as saying that the case brings to mind the torture and murder of young Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo.
Although four years have passed since the death of Regeni in Cairo, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the January 2011 revolution, the perpetrators have not yet come to terms with the perpetrators, as the Egyptian Public Prosecutor announced in the middle of last month the formation of a new team to investigate the case.