On December 23rd, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered the release of 19 defendants, involved in 11 cases that have been open since 2022 and 2023. The released included member of the Nasserist Party and EIPR’s client Aida Mahmoud Othman.

Othman, 44, has spent nearly two years in pretrial detention since her arrest from her home on April 27th 2023. She disappeared for days, before being presented to the State Security Prosecution on May 2nd 2023, in connection with Case No. 710 of 2023. The prosecution charged her with joining a group established in violation of law.

During her detention, Othman was moved between al-Qanater women's prison and the 10th of Ramadan prison. She was unable to care for her two kids for a year and eight months. Her detention continued to be renewed, despite her lawyer's argument that there were no justifications for her detention, as there was no fear that she would escape or affect the course of investigation. The lawyer repeatedly called for her release, taking into account her health condition, as she is a diabetic and has previously undergone a corneal transplant, which makes her detention a threat to her health.

EIPR believes that Othman’s release, albeit late, is a correction of a long-standing mistake, and the consequences of this mistake did not affect her only, but also affected her two children, as they were deprived of their mother for 20 months. EIPR calls on the Public Prosecution, represented by the State Security Prosecution, to expand its review of the status of larger numbers of pretrial detainees at a faster pace.