On June 30th, the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) decided to extend the pretrial detention of five people, including a woman, for 15 days in connection with Case No. 4880 of 2025 (Supreme State Security Investigations), one day after it issued a similar decision against another woman in the same case. 

The prosecution accused them all of joining a terrorist group and spreading fake news, for expressing support for the "Global March to Gaza" formed by activists and health workers around the globe, to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of the defendants via video conference, despite the complaint of one of the defendants (a 67-year-old female doctor) about her continued detention despite suffering several illnesses, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

The prosecution did not take into consideration the arguments of EIPR lawyers and other legal representatives of the detainees, regarding the absence of any evidence supporting the accusations against the defendants in this case, as none of them was presented with the "fake news" that the prosecution claimed they had spread.

The case dates back to mid-June, when the defendants were arrested successively and remained under enforced disappearance for varying days, before appearing before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which charged them without providing any evidence backing these charges.

The defendants were questioned about joining a private group on a social media platform that discussed joining the convoy heading through Egypt to break the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza. The prosecution questioned some of the defendants about the convoy and its objectives. The defendants affirmed that they adhered to Egyptian law, did not commit any crime, and did not join the convoy, especially after it failed to obtain security approvals from the Egyptian authorities.

The SSSP decided to renew the defendants' detention despite the lack of evidence that they committed any crime stipulated by law through this closed group, and despite the lack of any justification for pretrial detention per Article 134 of the Criminal Procedures Law.

With the addition of this investigation underCase No. 4880/2025, the number of those held in pretrial detention for expressing suppor or solidairity with Palestine has risen to 156 since the outbreak of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. Those detainees face terrorism charges in connection with 13 Supreme State Security cases. They include the elderly and at least four who were children at the time of their arrest.

EIPR renews its call on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to immediately release all defendants arbitrarily arrested for expressing solidarity with Palestine, drop all charges against them, and close all ongoing related investigations.

EIPR stresses that declaring solidarity with the Palestinian people or condemning Israeli crimes in the war of extermination in Gaza, is in perfect alignment with Egypt's officially declared position on the Palestinian cause. The continued detention of dozens and the crackdown on anyone who tries to show solidarity with the Palestinians or condemn the situation in Gaza constitute a flagrant violation of both the constitution and law, which oblige the Egyptian authorities to guarantee and protect the right of all Egyptians to express their political views peacefully.