Programs: Criminal Justice
The undersigned organizations renew their call for the Egyptian authorities to stop these trials, including the human trafficking case against Hossam and al-Adham, and release the defendants who continue to be held in pretrial detention been sentenced to imprisonment in connection with these cases. In addition to guaranteeing freedom of expression, including on the internet, and to stop employing the Law's vague provisions on Combating Information Technology Crimes to infringe on digital rights.
Therefore, the Stop the Death Penalty Campaign in Egypt and the undersigned organizations call upon the Egyptian government to immediately halt the implementation of the death penalty and to abide by the Egyptian Code of Criminal Procedure by informing the families of those sentenced to death of the execution deadline and allowing them to visit the convicted person in accordance with what is stipulated in Egyptian law.
The five groups called on all civil society organizations, political parties, unions, individuals, and Egyptian communities abroad and regional and international bodies to endorse these seven steps as minimum requirements to begin restoring the dignity and rights of all Egyptians.
The Egyptian government carried out death sentences over the previous three days without prior notification to the families of the convicts of the execution date. The families have also not been allowed to see their relatives before the execution, a right enshrined by Article 472 of the Criminal Procedure Law
The motion follows a petition launched on the anniversary of Patrick’s arrest this year and signed by more than 200,000 Italian citizens calling on the Italian government to grant Patrick Italian citizenship. Since Zaki’s arrest in February 2020, more than 50 Italian cities and counties have granted him their honorary citizenship in appreciation for his work defending human rights and highlighting his unjust imprisonment, with the campaign titled “100 Cities for Patrick”.
Today, Patrick's lawyers have maintained the need for the prosecution to disclose the justifications for its request to continue Patrick's imprisonment, under ArticleNo.136 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the accused's defense to refute and refute it and for the court's balance between the prosecution's statements and the defendant's defense. In the face of the lawyers ’request, the Public Prosecutor reiterated his general phrase, which says,“ The justifications for remand are available. ”.
In the first 2 months of 2021 alone Egyptian authorities executed 7 prisoners.
67 new defendants were sentenced to death
48 new defendants received provisional death penalty sentences.
The continued detention of Islam Orabi despite obtaining a decision to release him and having paid his bail constitutes a crime of unlawful detention, and is punishable under Article 280 of the Penal Code which states: “Any person who arrests, jails or detains a person without order by the relevant authorities and in other than the cases in which laws and regulations authorize the arrest of suspects, he shall be punished with detention or a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds”. Orabi’s disappearance from the police department increases fears about his safety and the possibility of deterioration of his health, which may constitute a danger to his life.
