Patrick Zaki to remain in custody for another 15 days

Over the past 11 months Patrick Zaky, a student at the University of Bologna and of Egyptian nationality, remains held at the Tora prison in Cairo.

There was no good news after much hope built up after the Sunday 17 hearings, instead, he is to remain in custody for an extra 15 days. He is facing charges of spreading subversive propaganda over the internet. 

On the eve of the verdict, his lawyer Hoda Nasrallah seemed worried over the outcome of the hearing the next day. He did not give further elaboration on a possible release date for the 29-year-old. The family has continuously raised concern over the state of his health given the pain he experienced on his back due to nights of sleeping on the cold hard floor. 

Also read: Italy charges Egyptian Security Agents for the death of Giulio Regeni

May well-wishers and followers of the Zaki case closely follow the happenings as shared on the Facebook page “Patrick Zaki free”. On Sunday he attended the hearings for the renewal of his detention - which has carried on for 11 months. This session was conducted in the presence of a delegation from the European Union, France, Netherlands, Italy, and Canada. 

There have been talks of pardoning various inmates on January 25, in celebration of the police party.  Zaki’s pre-trial detention will now continue for 15 days. It is worth noting that pre-trial detention in Egypt can go up to years. 

Also read: Patrick Zaki to remain in custody for an additional 45 days

Riccardo Noury at Amnesty Internation Italia released a statement that described the events on the Patrick Zaki affair as “cruelty” singling out the “11 months of illegal and arbitrary detention without trial” 

Many do not understand how three top EIPR NGO executives arrested in Cairo were released from prison after great international mobilization. Karimi, Gasser, and Basheer were released from the Tora prison while Patrick remained held for an additional 45 days without evidence on subversive propaganda charges. 

Egyptian authorities singled out EPIR over alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. The three were arrested for meeting with ambassadors from 13 countries, including Italy. So far a spirited effort by the international community has mobilized and demanded his release.