The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls on Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik to urgently  intervene to implement the Abbasiya Criminal Court's final decision issued on September 12th to release Ahmed Sabry Nassef under guarantee of his place of residence in Case No. 2168 of 2024 (Gamaleya Misdemeanors).

Nassef is currently held at the 10th of Ramadan Prison without any legal justification. An 8th decision was issued four days ago to release him, and the decision became enforceable after the Abbasiya Criminal Court upheld it and rejected the prosecution's appeal against it. However, the Ministry of Interior continues to detain Nassef.

EIPR has growing fears that a repetitive scenario that Nassef has been facing for more than seven years will be enforced on him once more. During the past 7 years, Nassef was subjected to “recycling” (a practice where detainees are ordered into pretrial detention on similar charges in new cases) several times, regardless of the acquittal verdicts and release orders issued for him.

EIPR has earlier issued similar statements regarding Nassef who has been detained since January 2017, when he was an 18-year-old high school student. He could not resume his studies due to his detention in connection with eight consecutive and similar cases. He was acquitted in four cases, while in the four others, several judicial decisions were issued stating that there was no need to detain him pending any of these cases. However, the Ministry of Interior has not implemented any of these decisions.

Over the past seven years, Nassef was interrogated in connection with eight cases on almost identical charges. He was forcibly disappeared and detained in unknown locations several times, before being presented to the prosecution again. During the same period, a national human rights strategy was issued, then a "pardon committee" was formed to look into cases of pretrial detainees, and now the House of Representatives is debating a new draft criminal procedures law, but none of these has saved Nassef from being held in open-ended detention without conviction.

Nassef was interrogated for the first time on February 19th 2017, after more than a month of his enforced disappearance, in Case No. 148 of 2017 (Supreme State Security), on charges of joining a terrorist group. He remained in pretrial detention until the Public Prosecution decided to release him on March 13th 2019. The Ministry of Interior, however, did not implement the prosecution's decision, and referred him again to the State Security Prosecution on July 7th 2019 for investigation in connection with Case No. 750 of 2019 (Supreme State Security), on the same charge of "joining a terrorist group". He remained in pretrial detention until the Public Prosecution ordered his release on September 26th 2021. For the second time, the Interior Ministry did not implement the prosecution’s decision.

On October 31st 2021, Nassef was investigated in Case No. 34009 of 2021 (Marg Felonies) on charges of possessing birdshot ammunition. The North Cairo Criminal Court (Circuit 15) acquitted him for the first time on April 17th 2022. On May 24th 2022, he was interrogated in Case No. 5692 of 2022 (Al-Zawiya Al-Hamra Felonies) on the same charge, and the Criminal Court (Circuit 14) issued the second acquittal order on September 12th 2022. On November 21st 2022, he was interrogated in Case No. 6231 of 2022 (Al-Shorouk Felonies) on the same charge again, namely possessing birdshot ammunition, and the Shorouk Criminal Court acquitted him on February 14th 2023. On April 4th 2023, the prosecution interrogated him again on the same charge in connection with Case No. 10232 of 2023 (First Al-Salam Felonies), and the Al-Salam Criminal Court acquitted him for the fourth time on August 13th 2023, but he remained in detention.

On September 11th 2023, after two release orders and four acquittals were issued, the Ministry of Interior referred Nassef to the prosecution on a new charge, namely possessing publications. He was investigated in Case No. 8198 of 2023 (Al-Khalifa Misdemeanors), before the consultation chamber decided to release him on February 6th 2024. However, the Ministry of Interior refused again to implement the decision, and referred him to the prosecution for investigation pending the last case.

EIPR reiterates its call for the quick release of Nassef in implementation of the final release decision. It calls on the Ministry of Interior – once again – to implement the court's decision in this regard. It also renews its call for Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to intervene to prevent the recurrence of Nassef's accusation, ensure his release, and stop the crime of refusing to implement judicial rulings and decisions.