Release of detained human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Patrick George Zaki following presidential pardon

On 19 July 2023, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi granted a presidential pardon to the detained human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Patrick George Zaki. This decision came one day after Patrick George Zaki was sentenced to three years in prison, and both human rights defenders were subsequently released on 20 July 2023. At the time of his release, Mohamed El-Baqer had spent almost four years in prison, while Patrick George Zaki was previously detained for 22 months.

Mohamed El-Baqer is a human rights defender and lawyer. He is the director of the Adalah Centre for Rights and Freedoms, which provides legal aid for political detainees and prisoners of conscience, as well as promoting civil and the political rights in Egypt. Patrick George Zaki is a human rights defender and researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). He advocates for women’s rights, as well as the rights of vulnerable groups in Egypt, including the LGBTIQ+ community and the Christian minority. He has also worked on the rights of detainees, and has been involved in several campaigns concerning the violations of civil and political rights in Egypt.

Patrick George Zaki was convicted on 18 July 2023, when he was found guilty of “disseminating false news about the country's internal conditions that would disturb security and social peace.” The sentence was issued by the Emergency State Security Misdemeanors Court in Mansoura, with no possibility of appeals. His arrest took place within the courtroom and was based on an article he had published in 2019, titled “Displacement, Killing and Restriction: A Week's Diaries of Egypt's Copts.” He was arrested in February 2020, spending over 20 months in pretrial detention, before being released pending trial in December 2021.

Similarly, the human rights defender Mohamed El-Baqer was detained in September 2019 when he was attending the interrogation of Alaa Abdel Fattah, whom he was representing. He received a four-year prison sentence in December 2021. The charges against him included “membership of a terrorist organisation with knowledge of aims and intent”; “membership of an organisation founded contrary to the provisions of law”; “defamation”; “misuse of social media”; and “publishing false news that harms the country's interests.” The decision was also issued by the Emergency State Security Misdemeanor Court, rendering further appeal unavailable.

The charges that were brought against the two human rights defenders, most notably for disseminating fake news, are common charges used by prosecutors in Egypt against Egyptian human rights defenders and activists. In November 2022, Amnesty International stated that “thousands of individuals including human rights defenders, journalists, peaceful protesters and members of the political opposition continue to be detained unjustly [in Egypt].” Many of the other human rights defenders were also tried by the Emergency State Security Misdemeanor Court and thus have no possibility to appeal their sentence. Additionally, travel bans, asset freezes, and unlawful surveillance are among the targeting tactics that are commonly used against Egyptian human rights defenders.

While Front Line Defenders welcomes the presidential pardon that led to the release of six people, including the two human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Patrick George Zaki, it remains concerned about the numerous other human rights defenders in Egypt who remain in detention on similar charges. Front Line Defenders urges the authorities of Egypt to release all human rights defenders who have been targeted solely based on their peaceful and legitimate human rights work and to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out their work free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.

On 18 November 2021, the Court of Cessation in Cairo rejected the appeal submitted by Mohamed El-Baqer’s lawyer on his behalf in relation to the decision made on 23 November 2020 by the Criminal Court of Cairo to include the human rights defender as well as others on a list of terrorists. Since then, the human rights defender has not been officially charged. The appeal was submitted by the human rights defender’s lawyer seeing as no final verdict naming Mohamed El-Baqer as a terrorist has been issued on his case with the New Cairo Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court. The human rights defender is scheduled to be heard before the New Cairo Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court on 20 December 2021, in relation to new charges brought against him on 18 October 2021.

The inclusion of Mohamed El-Baqer on the list of terrorists has dire consequences, as the decision can no longer be appealed, except after the expiry of the listing period. The listing period is generally no more than 5 years, during which only the Attorney General would have the power to submit a request to exclude the name of the listed individual.

The human rights defender will be subjected to travel bans, the freezing of assets, and will be banned from practicing civil work, founding or joining associations’ boards and will have to rescind syndicate membership. Even if Mohamed El-Baqer were to be found innocent and released, there is a chance he will not be able to practice law as a result of this decision.

On 18 October 2021, human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Mohamed Ibrahim had their first session at court after having their case referred to the Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court in Cairo. Both human rights defenders had been held in pretrial detention for 2 years in Tora Prison before having their case transferred to the aforementioned court without prior knowledge of the transfer. Their lawyers were prohibited from taking copies of the case file and from meeting with their clients.

On 18 October 2021, both human rights defenders attended the court session alongside another human rights defender Alaa Abdel Fattah for a new case file that replicated the charges held in case no. 1356 of 2019, for which all three defenders were held in pretrial detention for more than 2 years. After the maximum number of years allowed in pretrial detention under Egyptian law were served, the human rights defenders were finally taken to court. The charges included in the file are "membership of a terrorist organisation", "defamation", and "misuse of social media". The Court also charged the defenders with publishing false news that harms the country’s interests.

The transfer of the file to the Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court means the decision made by the Court is final and cannot be appealed. The Emergency State Security Misdemeanour Court adjourned the trial held on 18 October 2021 until early November 2021.

On 31 August 2020, the State Public Prosecution ordered 15 days preventive detention against human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Esraa Abdel Fattah. They are accused on a second count of "joining an illegal organisation" and of “being a part of a criminal agreement with the purpose of committing a terrorist act from inside the prison” as part of the recently opened case No. 855 of 2020.

Mohamed El-Baqer has been under preventive detention since September 2019, and woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah has been under preventive detention since October 2019. Family visits were banned for both of them since March 2020.

On 20 February 2020, the Criminal Court of Tora accepted the Public Prosecution's appeal against the release of human rights defender Mohamed El-Baqer and renewed his detention for an additional 45 days, without providing any justification. This decision came after the Court ordered his release on 18 February.

The human rights defender was arrested at the State Prosecution on 29 September 2019, when he was attending the interrogation of human rights defender Alaa Abdel Fattah. He is being held at Tora prison and is not allowed to read, send or receive correspondence, or to leave his cell during prison recreation time.

On 9 October 2019, the Supreme Public Persecution in Cairo renewed the preventive detention of human rights defender Mohamed El-Baqer. Since his arrest on 29 September 2019, Mohamed El-Baqer has been facing inhumane conditions at Tora prison, the maximum security prison where he is being held. In addition to being denied access to clean water, personal hygiene items and shower facilities, he must also remain in his cell during prison recreation time, where he receives meals far below the standard of those served at the prison canteen. Most urgent of Mohamed El-Baqer’s requests is to receive medical attention for the back injuries he has sustained from being forced to sleep on the floor of the cell. He continues to be denied any such assistance.