A US Senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, has commented on the news that Reem Desouky’s detention has been renewed. Desouky, a dual US-Egypt citizen, has been imprisoned again, despite a court order being issued to release her. Murphy said that he has been pushing for the release of Americans imprisoned in Egypt and that this news of their renewed detention after the hope of release is unacceptable. Her lawyer has said she will remain in jail after a prosecution appeal was accepted last Thursday. Pennsylvania teacher Reem Desouky had been on pre-trial detention that has been renewed periodically since she was arrested at Cairo Airport during a visit to her family in July 2019. The prosecution accused her of running a Facebook page that criticises the government. Nour Fahmy, one of the lawyers who represent Desouky in the case, told ABC News that her detention has been extended for at least a further 45 days. “We had hopes that she would be released… she has been detained for a long time now,” he said.
Moustafa Hamed, Desouky’s 13-year-old son, was briefly detained with his mother at the airport six months ago before being released 11 hours later. In an emotional video posted on social media more than a month following Desouky’s arrest, he pleaded with US President Donald Trump to help free her.
Other activists who will remain in custody include Alaa Abdel Fattah, one of the figures who spearheaded the 2011 revolution that unseated autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, and his lawyer Mohamed al-Baqer who was arrested whilst defending him. Abdel Fattah and al-Baqer also won a court order to be released, but the prosecution’s appeal was accepted. Egyptian-American Mohamed Soltan, himself a former prisoner who now leads the human rights group Freedom Initiative, which focuses on political prisoners in the Middle East, told ABC News on Wednesday that US officials have been increasing pressure on Egyptian authorities to release Desouky. In mid-January, the detained US citizen Mustafa Kassem died in prison after a trial international human rights organisations describe as unfair. Kassem’s death sparked US criticism of human rights violations in Egypt.
Since al-Sisi led a military coup when he was the country’s defence minister in 2013, Egyptian authorities have led an unprecedented crackdown on dissent, arresting, detaining, and forcibly disappearing thousands. Human Rights Watch estimates that al-Sisi’s Egypt has at least 60,000 political prisoners. Human Rights organisations have documented abusive conditions, the systematic denial of medical care, and arbitrary and prolonged detention in prisons where tens of thousands of Egyptian political prisoners are held. They have called on US lawmakers to condition US military aid to Egypt on human rights.
Recent Comments