• Scarlett Johansson calls for the release of Patrick Zaki and 3 other activists

  • Zaky: activists in the square to ask for his release

Share

06 December 2020The hearing to decide on the renewal of the 45-day detention for Patrick Zaky ended at the third session of the Cairo Counterterrorism Tribunal, but the "verdict" will only be known tomorrow.

Patrik in prison since February 7, accused of subversive propaganda, was in court today.

Before the judges, the student declared that the charges against him were "unfounded" and denounced that he had already spent ten months in prison.

In addition to the NGO activists who mobilized in his defense, Zaky's lawyer and the EU prosecutor were present at the hearing, along with representatives of the Italian, German, Dutch and Canadian embassies. 



The reactions of the NGOs

"The Court ruled on the matter without listening to any arguments and without even allowing the defense lawyers to read the freezing order," said Eipr, the NGO with which Zaky collaborates.

“It will be another night of anguish for him, his family, friends and the many people who have been fighting for his release for ten months.

Unfortunately - said Riccardo Noury, spokesman for Amnesty international - there is not much to foresee: we hope that this detention, which lasted over 300 days, will end and can be released ".



The decision on the custody of Patrick Zaki will be known tomorrow.

The hearing took place today and Patrick was in the #FreePatrick courtroom

- Laura Cappon (@lacappon) December 6, 2020



Eipr directors' assets blocked

Meanwhile, the Cairo Anti-terrorism Tribunal has frozen the assets of the three directors of Eipr, the NGO with which Patrick Zaky collaborated.

The provision only concerns the assets of Mohamed Basheer, Karim Ennarah and Gasser Abdel Razek, who were released from Tora prison on Thursday 3 December.

The news was given on Twitter by the Egyptian initiative for personal rights itself.



The court made the decision, it is stressed, without allowing the defense to speak in court or consult the documents.

An Eipr source added, "We asked to speak and we were denied. No evidence or proof of the asset freeze order was presented. We asked to read it and we were not allowed".



The Anti-Terrorism Tribunal confirmed the temporary freezing of the assets of @EIPR executives.

We await news for the release of Patrick Zaki #freepatrickzaki https://t.co/6me6o6VYre

- Amnesty Italia (@amnestyitalia) December 6, 2020