Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The European statement and its proposal to issue a resolution on what it described as “the Egyptian government’s violations” of human rights sparked widespread interaction among activists on social media, while the Egyptian MP, Mostafa Bakri, described it as “blatant interference in internal affairs.” “For his country.
Below Text of the European statement Issued, Wednesday:
– Given his previous decisions regarding Egypt.
– Taking into account Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its internal regulations.
a. Whereas Hisham Qasim is an important liberal voice in Egypt, a publisher and advocate for media freedom and the rule of law;
B. In June 2023, and before the presidential elections in December 2023, he played a pivotal role in establishing the “Free Movement” coalition, which included liberal opposition parties and figures, criticizing the government’s economic and political record. He was arrested on charges of defamation and slander due to an online post criticizing former Minister Abu Aita and refusing to pay the equivalent of 150 euros for his bail. While he was arrested on August 20 on similar charges, and on September 16, the Cairo Economic Misdemeanor Court sentenced him to six months in prison and a fine; He appealed and the court postponed its session until October 7, 2023.
C. While his defense rights were not adequately protected, his lawyer was not allowed access to his case file before trial and the authorities denied him his right to a public hearing and prevented media and diplomatic representatives from attending;
Dr.. While the leader of the Nasserite Left Party, Ahmed Tantawi, has faced harassment by the authorities since announcing his candidacy for the presidency in August; At least 73 of his campaign staff and supporters have been arrested since then, and Citizen Lab discovered that his phone had been hacked using Citrox’s Predator spyware;
e. After a limited number of political prisoners have been pardoned since May 2022, twice that number have been arrested since then and thousands remain in prison;
We call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Hisham Qassem and drop all politically motivated charges against him; Extending an invitation to the European Union delegation and member states to visit him in prison; Emphasizes the importance of holding free, fair and credible elections; Urges the authorities to stop harassing peaceful opposition figures such as presidential aspirant and former member of parliament Ahmed Tantawi; Expresses its deep concern about the restricted electoral process in Egypt; He points out that defamation laws cannot be used to imprison political opponents; Urges the authorities to uphold the rule of law, freedom of expression, press, media, and association, and the independence of the judiciary, to stop stifling opposition voices through arbitrary detention, digital surveillance, enforced disappearance and torture, and to immediately and unconditionally release dozens of thousands of prisoners arbitrarily detained for the peaceful expression of their opinions, including Award winner Alaa Abdel Fattah and 20 journalists, lifting internet censorship against independent media; It welcomes the limited release of unjustly detained political prisoners such as Patrick Zaki; Urges EU Member States to raise Egypt’s human rights violations at the upcoming EU-Egypt Association Council and to support the monitoring and reporting mechanism at the UN Human Rights Council; Calls for the effective implementation of a “dual-use system” to protect opposition voices; Its president is assigned to refer this decision to the Council, the Authority and the Egyptian authorities and to translate it into Arabic.
2023-10-06 03:46:04
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