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.
On 8 December 2021, human rights defender Patrick George Zaki was released from detention pending trial after spending more than 20 months in custody. His trial is set to resume on 1 February 2022, nearly two years after first being detained.
On 14 September 2021, the trial of Patrick George commenced before the State Security Misdemeanours Emergency Court. The human rights defender is facing the charge of “publishing false news inside and outside Egypt”. The charge is based on an article he published on Daraj news website in July 2019, titled “Displacement, Killing and Restriction: A Week’s Diaries of Egypt’s Copts”. The State Security Emergency Court is an exceptional court whose rulings are not subject to appeal.
On 2 February 2021, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed the detention of human rights defender Patrick George for an additional 45 days.
On 7 February 2020, human rights defender Patrick George was detained at Cairo airport and taken into custody by the National Security Agency. He was interrogated for several hours, and reported being subjected to physical abuse and torture by electric shocks. On the next day, the Public Prosecutor of Mansoura ordered his detention on remand for 15 days.
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Patrick George 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 LGBT+ 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.
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- 27 July 2023 : Release of detained human rights defenders Mohamed El-Baqer and Patrick George Zaki following presidential pardon
- 9 December 2021 : Human rights defender Patrick George Zaki released from detention
- 15 September 2021 : Referral of Patrick George to State Security Emergency Court
- 8 February 2021 : Renewed Detention of human rights defender Patrick George
- 10 February 2020 : Human rights defender Patrick George detained and tortured
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 8 December 2021, human rights defender Patrick George Zaki was released from detention pending trial after spending more than 20 months in custody. His trial is set to resume on 1 February 2022, nearly two years after first being detained.
On 7 February 2020, Patrick George was detained at the Cairo International airport. He was interrogated for several hours and he was reportedly subjected to physical abuse and torture by electric shocks. He is facing the charges of ‘spreading false news’, ‘incitement to protest without authorisation’, ‘incitement to violence and terrorism’ and ‘calling for the overthrow of the state’.
On 14 September 2021, the trial of Patrick George commenced before the State Security Misdemeanours Emergency Court. The human rights defender is facing the charge of “publishing false news inside and outside Egypt”. The charge is based on an article he published on Daraj news website in July 2019, titled “Displacement, Killing and Restriction: A Week’s Diaries of Egypt’s Copts”. The State Security Emergency Court is an exceptional court whose rulings are not subject to appeal.
On 2 February 2021, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed the detention of human rights defender Patrick George for an additional 45 days. During the session, the defence lawyers asked the Public Prosecutor to reveal the legal justifications behind the preventive detention of Patrick George, but the public prosecution ignored their request. The judge suggested that the defence lawyers send a request to the Public Prosecutor asking to reveal the legal justifications behind the detention of Patrick George.
On 7 February 2020, Patrick George was detained at Cairo airport. He was interrogated for several hours and reported being subjected to physical abuse and torture by electric shocks. He is facing the charges of ‘spreading false news’, ‘incitement to protest without authorisation’, ‘incitement to violence and terrorism and ‘calling for the overthrow of the state’.
On 7 February 2020, human rights defender Patrick George was detained at Cairo airport and taken into custody by the National Security Agency. He was interrogated for several hours, and reported being subjected to physical abuse and torture by electric shocks. On the next day, the Public Prosecutor of Mansoura ordered his detention on remand for 15 days.
Patrick George 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 LGBT+ 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.
On 7 February 2020, the human rights defender came to Egypt for the first time since commencing his university studies in Italy in August 2019. He was stopped at Cairo airport upon his arrival. He was then taken into custody by the National Security Investigation and his whereabouts remained unknown for 24 hours. It was later revealed that he had been transferred from the airport to a national security facility in Cairo. Patrick George was then interrogated for several hours without the presence of his lawyer. During the interrogation, the human rights defender was subjected to physical abuse and was tortured by electric shocks. On the next day, he was presented before the public prosecutor of Mansoura who ordered his detention on remand for 15 days, pending further investigation. The police issued a statement stating that the detention of Patrick George is based on an arrest warrant issued against him in September 2019.
The human rights defender is facing the charges of ‘spreading false news’, ‘incitement to protest without authorisation’, ‘incitement to violence and terrorism; and ‘calling for the overthrow of the state’. Since his detention, no family visits have been allowed, and he has had very limited access to legal counsel. He is currently detained at Mansoura police station.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the detention of Patrick George, the charges brought against him, as well as the allegations of torture during his interrogation. Front Line Defenders believes that he is being targeted solely as a result of his peaceful and legitimate human rights work.
