On 6 August, the Special Chamber of the Criminal Court in Tora Prison ordered, without motive, the continued detention of prominent Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who was held in a glass cage for the duration of the hearing. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network is appalled by the further postponement of the trial and the arbitrary decisions made against the three defendants. We are worried that Mr Abdel Fattah may be being treated differently from other defendants because he is a well-known opponent of the regime and a prominent blogger who has advocated for judicial independence for some time. We condemn his ongoing detention, which is unlawful under both Egyptian and international law.
On 11 June, Alaa Abdel Fattah, along with 24 others, were sentenced in absentia to 15 years of prison, a fine of EGP 100,000 and five years’ probation for breaching the controversial Protest Law. This law bans protests without prior approval from the authorities and has been widely condemned by human rights organisations. Three of the defendants are being held in custody, and the other 21 are currently released on bail. Throughout yesterday’s hearing during which they asked for their release, the defendants were locked in glass cages. This hindered them from seeing what was happening in the Court properly and prevented any conversation with their lawyers. It was clear at several points during the hearing that the defendants could not hear what was being said. Their lawyers argued that the glass dock was a violation of their right to listen to the trial’s procedures.
Accusations being made against the defendants include violating the Protest Law, assaulting policemen and stealing a walkie-talkie. The defendants requested that the composition of the Court be changed. Mr Abdel Fattah had previously requested that the Judge overseeing the case, Mohamed El-Fikki, recuse himself from the case as he may hold a grudge against him as a result of Mr Abdel Fattah’s previous accusation that Judge El-Fikki is part of a team of judges that rigged the parliamentary elections in 2005. The lawyers also requested a change of courtroom from the police compound to a public Court space. They argued that the current venue is a manifest violation of the defendants’ right to an open and public hearing. The Tora compound is clearly not a neutral space, as it belongs to the police, a party in the case. At their hearing on 11 June, the three defendants were refused permission to enter the Court for their hearing. The Judge handed down a judgment in absentia, they were immediately arrested and they have been imprisoned ever since. The Special Chambers in Tora police compound was set up to deal with terrorist offenses but it is now also being used for offenses under the Protest Law. These Chambers call into question the separation of powers, as they are linked to the Ministry of Interior.
The Judges refused bail and adjourned the case until 10 September, when witnesses from the Prosecution will be heard and video evidence will be presented. The defence’s request to obtain a copy of the video evidence in order to prepare their case properly was refused. It is likely that the Prosecution’s video evidence will be shown to the defendants and their lawyers for the first time at the September hearing, during which the defendants are likely to be isolated again from their legal team in the glass cages without proper communication. This fundamentally undermines the ability of the defendants to present their case to the Court and prevents them, through their lawyers, from responding to the evidence being presented against them, violating their right to a fair trial. This further demonstrates of the lack of independence of the Egyptian judicial system which targets human rights defenders and civil society activists through arbitrary legal proceedings.