• Egypt, prison custody renewed for Patrick Zaky
  • Zaky, the lawyer: new postponement of the hearing on pre-trial detention
  • Egypt. Lawyer: Zaky transferred to maximum security prison
  • Friend of Zaky denounces: transferred to prison, visits denied, Egyptians take advantage of chaos coronavirus

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June 17, 2020 Preliminary detention in prison of Patrick George Zaky, the Egyptian student from the University of Bologna who has been in prison for over four months in Egypt on charges of subversive propaganda on Facebook, has been renewed for another two weeks. "Unfortunately, renewal of the detention for another 15 days," one of his lawyers, Hoda Nasrallah, wrote to Ansa without providing any other information.

A strong mobilization has been created for the release of the 28-year-old activist. In Bologna, where Zaki has been attending a master's degree since September, the Municipality has announced his intention to grant him honorary citizenship. Human rights defenders denounce the imprisonment of pre-trial detention, since Zaki would not be able to pollute the evidence and pose no social danger. Furthermore, the charges against him are still unclear but there are fears that the investigators have ended up with posts on Facebook in which the researcher incited people to protest in the squares to ask for more rights.

In Egypt, according to non-governmental organizations, the authorities' tightening on freedom of expression and civil rights in general is getting stronger. Activists denounce that the new anti-terrorism law passed in 2015 by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi would allow anyone who criticizes institutions to fall under the category of "terrorist activity", whether they are intellectuals, journalists, lawyers or civil society bodies . Hundreds of people would be behind bars for reasons of conscience. In Egypt and abroad, with the coronavirus emergency, the movement calling for the release of these detainees raised their voices, fearing that the virus could easily circulate among overcrowded cells. In late May, an agent from the Tora prison, where Zaki is also held, died for Covid-19.

Amnesty: Farnesina puts pressure on Egypt authorities
"Yesterday was Patrick's 29th birthday and we all hope that he is the only one who spends in this terrible condition, innocent and at risk of contagion from Covid 19. We continue to do appeal to the Farnesina to do everything possible for the Egyptian judicial authorities to convince themselves to let him out for health reasons ". So Riccardo Noury, spokesman for Amnesty International Italia about Patrick Zaky. Yesterday the young student's family - through the social pages - had written: "Happy birthday, love. This year, for the first time, you will spend your birthday away from us. We miss you so much. Our wish is simple, spend together all the next occasions, to be able to cuddle and celebrate together ".