• Egypt, EU: "We are following the case of Patrick Zaki, checks in progress in Cairo"
  • Patrick George Zaky, activist enrolled at the University of Bologna, arrested in Egypt
  • Zaki case, pressure from Rome on Egypt. Cairo stops: "He is not an Italian citizen"

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February 14, 2020The President of the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies, Ali Abdel Aal, "categorically rejects the statements of the President of the European Parliament" David Sassoli on the arrest of Patrick George Zaky, defining them in a press release "an unacceptable interference in internal affairs and an attack against the Egyptian judiciary ". Mena reports it.

Last Wednesday in the courtroom in Strasbourg, Sassoli had asked for the immediate release of Zaky, reminding "the Egyptian authorities that the EU conditions its relations with third countries on respect for human rights".

Patrick George Zaky "enjoys full rights, like the others arrested, without discrimination" said the President of the Egyptian Parliament, recalling that the arrest of the researcher took place on the basis of "judicial measures" taken against him "by the general prosecutor in September 2019 and that the man was arrested on February 8, 2020 upon his arrival in the country from Italy ".

Activists Zaky: "From Egypt propaganda to scare"
"Claims about external interference are nothing more than nationalist propaganda used to scare the Egyptians and prevent them from exposing the crimes of the Egyptian state." So the activists of the official solidarity campaign in favor of Patrick George Zaky.

Eipr Director: "Illogical to transfer Zaky"
"The news of the hearing on pre-trial detention set for Saturday 15 February is not bad news per se. But let's not jump to hasty conclusions: on Saturday the judges will not rule on the accusations against Zaky, they will discuss the appeal of his lawyers for release. So you will stick to procedural affections. " This was stated to Dire Amr Abd Al-Rahman, director of the Egyptian initiative for personal rights (Eipr), an NGO that is following the legal proceedings of Patrick Zaky through his lawyers.

The 27-year-old student of the University of Bologna, held in detention since last Friday, has long collaborated with the EIPR for the defense of human and gender rights in Egypt. As the manager continues, "today Zaky has met his family and lawyers. His condition is good, he said he was not mistreated but the new structure to which he was transferred (the Talkha police station) is not as adequate as the previous one ", or that of Mansoura.

This is because "it is a little further away than where your family lives, it is also more crowded". The detainees also "are not prisoners of conscience, but have committed other types of crime and common crime". For Abd Al-Rahman the transfer to Talkha "is a choice we don't understand", because "behind this measure there is no logic".