The Egyptian authorities renewed the detention of a police officer for his solidarity with the Gaza Strip and raising the Palestinian flag.
The Cairo Criminal Court decided to renew the detention of the police officer in the Dakhila Police Station in Alexandria Governorate, Abdel Gawad Mohmed Abdel Gawad Al-Sahlami, 45, for 45 days in Badr 2 prison pending investigations in Case No. 717 of 2024 for standing in solidarity with the defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and raising the Palestinian flag.
Al-Sahlami was arrested on March 1, and subjected to enforced disappearance for 10 days, before being brought before the State Security Prosecution for investigation on charges of joining a terrorist group.
Egyptian security forces arrested Al-Sahlamy for climbing one of the huge billboards in the Sidi Gaber area in Alexandria, while carrying the Palestinian flag, and chanting against President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for his position on the Israeli war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, since October 7, 2023.
Al-Sahlamy was severely beaten by police forces upon his arrest. They used a fire truck to bring him down from the top of the billboard against his will and abused him in front of passersby.
Al-Sahlamy’s arrest and trial are a reminder that a state of law and justice guarantees freedom of expression for citizens who have the fundamental right to express their opinions and demonstarate in peace, without being subjected to harassment or arbitrary arrest, as international agreements guarantee the right of individuals to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration, as one of the basic and human rights.
Al-Salhamy’s trial requires the intervention of the international community and human rights organisations to pressure the Egyptian authorities to adhere to international human rights standards and refrain from using arbitrary force against peaceful demonstrators and human rights activists, or arresting them.
It is noteworthy that the Egyptian authorities have arrested thousands of people in politically motivated arrests, where many of them were convicted and sentenced in unfair trials, or detained without trial for years on baseless terrorism-related charges, in extremely poor detention conditions.
