News briefing
By: CFJ
Geneva: July 5, 2023
The Criminal Court, held at the Badr Prison Complex, has ruled to extend the detention of Egyptian human rights lawyer and coordinator of the Association of the Families of the Enforced Disappeared, Ibrahim Metwally, for 45 days in connection with case number 786 of 2022.
The administration of Badr 3 prison has finally approved a visit from Metwally’s family, marking their first encounter since his transfer to the public prison last year. This comes after continuous refusals by the prison administration to grant visitation requests from his family, without providing alternative means of communication as stipulated in the Egyptian prison regulations.
Continuous pretrial detention for six years:
It should be noted that the Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ibrahim Metwally (60 years old), has been held in pretrial detention on several recycled cases for the past six years, in clear violation of the law.
Metwally was arrested in 2017 while heading to Geneva, Switzerland, to participate in the 113th session of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, in his capacity as the founder of the Association of the Families of the Enforced Disappeared and as the father of a forcibly disappeared son since July 2013, who remains missing to this day.
Metwally has been subjected to recycling of three consecutive cases with the same charges, in an attempt to circumvent the release orders and justify his detention beyond the maximum limit of pretrial detention.
Urgent calls to end the practice of cases recycling:
CFJ condemns the unlawful and inhumane practices against Metwally, and demands an immediate cessation of these practices, his release, and holding those responsible for the violations accountable.
The organisation also stresses the need for Egyptian authorities to put an end to the systematic use of “recycled detention” or “renewed detention,” as it constitutes a serious violation of the right to freedom. Given the dire conditions of detention in Egypt, it poses a threat to the right to life.
