Press Release
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, the Third Terrorism Circuit at the Cairo Criminal Court, held at the Badr Court Complex, issued a decision rejecting the requests submitted by Hossam Bahgat, Director of the “Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights,” Azza Soliman, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the “Egyptian Women’s Issues Foundation,” and Mostafa Hassan, Director of the “Hisham Mubarak Law Center,” to lift the freeze on their assets and properties.
– Continuation of the freeze violates judicial rulings:
According to a statement by the Egyptian Initiative, this ruling comes despite a decision made in March by the investigating judge assigned to the civil society case, which ordered the closure of investigations, citing insufficient evidence after 13 years of probing the activities of these human rights organizations.
Hossam Bahgat’s legal defense presented the court with the original decision by Investigating Judge Ahmed Abdel Aziz Qatlan, which clearly states the “lifting of the freeze on liquid and movable funds” for Bahgat and the others involved in the case.
In response, Bahgat described the court’s decision as a clear contempt for justice, stressing that the politicized case has aimed from the outset to intimidate Egyptian human rights activists and deter them from continuing their work. He added, “Those state actors who believe they can continue treating Egyptian human rights defenders as hostages need to understand that such arbitrary measures will not succeed in intimidating or stopping their advocacy efforts.”
– Rejection and calls for amending the anti-terrorism law:
It is worth noting that this is not the only case targeting members of the “Egyptian Initiative.” The former executive director, Gasser Abdel-Razek, the Director of the Criminal Justice Unit, Karim Ennarah, and the administrative director, Mohamed Basheer, are still subject to travel bans and asset freezes under case number 855 of 2020, despite their release shortly after their arrests.
In this context, the “Committee for Justice” (CFJ) rejects these arbitrary actions and calls for their immediate cessation. CFJ also urges the Egyptian authorities to amend the anti-terrorism law in accordance with the international treaties and conventions that Egypt has ratified, to ensure the protection of human rights and the freedom of human rights work in the country.