Esraa Abdel Fattah released on bail
On 17 July, the Public Prosecution Office ordered the release of Esraa Abdel Fattah on bail after spending almost 22 months in pre-trial detention.
On 7 April 2021, the State Public Prosecution renewed the detention of Esraa Abdel Fattah for an additional 45 days. The woman human rights defender has been held in pre-trial detention since 12 October 2019, on charges of 'joining an illegal organisation', 'defamation and the spread of false news' and 'misuse of social media’.
On 4 March 2020, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed the preventive detention of woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah for an additional 45 days. Since her arrest on 12 October 2019, her detention has been renewed every 15 days.
On 9 December 2019, Esraa Abdel Fattah resumed her hunger strike, which she had originally started on 12 October and suspended on 22 November 2019.
On 5 November 2019, the Supreme Public Prosecution renewed the preventive detention of woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah for fifteen additional days.
October 21st: Esraa Abdel Fattah’s health is in critical condition, after spending over a week on hunger strike. She began the hunger strike on 13 October 2019, one day after her arrest.
On 13 October 2019, the Supreme Public Prosecution of Egypt ordered the fifteen day preventive detention of woman human rights defender and journalist Esraa Abdel Fattah. On the day of her arrest, 12 October 2019, she was beaten and tortured, and has begun an open-ended hunger strike in protest.
Esraa Abdel Fattah is a woman human rights defender and journalist at al-Tahrir newspaper. She was project manager at the Egyptian Democratic Academy, a non-governmental organization that promotes the use of new media tools to foster democracy and human rights. Esraa Abdel Fattah is known for her efforts to promote workers' rights and democracy; she began her human rights work in 2008, when she co-founded the April 6 Movement.
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- 22 July 2021 : Esraa Abdel Fattah released on bail
- 16 April 2021 : Detention of Esraa Abdel Fattah renewed
- 4 September 2020 : Moahmed El-Baqer and Esraa Abdel Fattah under investigation for a new case
- 9 March 2020 : Esraa Abdel Fattah’s preventive detention renewed
- 11 December 2019 : Esraa Abdel Fattah Renews Hunger Strike
- 6 November 2019 : Esraa Abdel Fattah’s preventive detention renewed
- 21 October 2019 : Esraa Abdel Fattah’s health worsens
- 15 October 2019 : Torture and ongoing detention of woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah
On 17 July, the Public Prosecution Office ordered the release of Esraa Abdel Fattah on bail after spending almost 22 months in pre-trial detention.
On 7 April 2021, the State Public Prosecution renewed the detention of Esraa Abdel Fattah for an additional 45 days. The woman human rights defender has been held in pre-trial detention since 12 October 2019, on charges of 'joining an illegal organisation', 'defamation and the spread of false news' and 'misuse of social media’.
On 13 August 2020, the State Public Prosecution brought a second case against the woman human rights defender, on the charge of “being a part of a criminal agreement with the purpose of committing a terrorist act from inside the prison” and a second count of "joining an illegal organisation", as part of the recently opened case No. 855 of 2020.
Whilst detained, the woman human rights defender was subjected to physical assault, and went on hunger strike to protest her detention.
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 4 March 2020, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed the preventive detention of woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah for an additional 45 days. Since her arrest on 12 October 2019, her detention has been renewed every 15 days.
On 9 December 2019, woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah resumed her hunger strike, which she had originally started on 12 October 2019. She had suspended it on 22 November 2019 because of her deteriorating health condition. Esraa Abdel Fattah’s hunger strike began as a protest against the torture she faced while in prison, and its resumption was triggered by the decision of the Supreme Public Prosecution in Cairo, on 8 December 2019, to renew her preventive detention for an additional 15 days.
On 5 November 2019, the Supreme Public Prosecution renewed the preventive detention of woman human rights defender Esraa Abdel Fattah for fifteen additional days.
Esraa Abdel Fattah’s health is in critical health condition after more than three weeks on a hunger strike. She began shortly after her arrest on 12 October 2019 in protest against the ill-treatment and the physical abuse she was subjected to.
Esraa Abdel Fattah’s health is in critical condition, after spending over a week on hunger strike. She began the hunger strike on 13 October 2019, one day after her arrest. On 21 October 2019, her lawyer requested she be transfered to a hospital, however the Public Prosecution refused the request.
On 13 October 2019, the Supreme Public Prosecution of Egypt ordered the fifteen day preventive detention of woman human rights defender and journalist Esraa Abdel Fattah. On the day of her arrest, 12 October 2019, she was beaten and tortured, and has begun an open-ended hunger strike in protest.
Esraa Abdel Fattah is a woman human rights defender and journalist at al-Tahrir newspaper. She was project manager at the Egyptian Democratic Academy, a non-governmental organization that promotes the use of new media tools to foster democracy and human rights. Esraa Abdel Fattah is known for her efforts to promote workers' rights and democracy; she began her human rights work in 2008, when she co-founded the April 6 Movement.
On 12 October around 19:30, Egyptian security forces in plain clothes stopped Esraa Abdel Fattah’s car and arrested her. Following her detention for 24 hours in an unknown location, Esraa Abdel Fattah appeared at the Supreme Public Persecution on 13 October 2019, which ordered her preventive detention for 15 days. The human rights defender is facing charges of “joining an illegal organisation”, “defamation and the spread of false news” and “misuse of social media”.
Esraa Abdel Fattah was tortured while in police custody. Her lawyer has stated that during her 24 hour interrogation she was blindfolded, handcuffed and severely beaten. She was forced to give up the password to her phone or be subjected to electric shocks and was further physically attacked by a police officer once she complied. Despite suffering from bodily bruising, Esraa Abdel Fattah has been denied medical assistance. She is being detained at a local police station in Cairo where family and lawyer visits have been banned. She will be transferred to Al-Qanateer women’s prison on 15 October 2019.
Esraa Abdel Fattah has been frequently harassed and detained by the Egyptian authorities. She has been under a travel ban since January 2015 and was repeatedly summoned and interrogated in connection with case 173/2011, otherwise known as the “foreign funding” case.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the continued detention and judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Egypt. Front Line Defenders believes that the detention and torture of Esraa Abdel Fattah was solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights.
