The so-called “recycling policy,” which the Egyptian government continues to apply to political activists and human rights defenders, is a clear violation of their fundamental rights since it aims to keep people in detention for an extended period of time without charge and goes against fundamental legal principles.
Although she served a five-year prison sentence in the case known in the media as the “Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms,” and her sentence expired last October, Khaled Badawi, the husband of Egyptian lawyer and human rights activist Hoda Abdel Moneim, announced that Egyptian authorities have summoned her for investigation in a new case bearing the number 800 of 2019.
In a social media statement, Badawi said that this process is an extension of “judicial recycling,” which is the practice of reusing the same charges in new cases in order to keep detainees from being released.
Immediately following her first sentence, Hoda was the subject of an investigation in another case (No. 730 of 2020), which human rights activists characterized as a violation of Egyptian law that forbids a person from being tried twice on the same charge.
Hoda Abdel Moneim, 65, a lawyer renowned for her decades-long defense of rights and freedoms, was arrested in November 2018 and disappeared for 21 days before showing up in a Cairo security detention center.
Hoda suffered from a number of infractions while in custody, such as visitation restrictions, a ban on her attorney looking through her medical records, and willful medical malpractice in spite of her severe and chronic conditions, which included a heart attack, kidney issues, and a blood clot in her foot.
Based on accusations that international human rights experts have characterized as “politically motivated” and devoid of adequate evidence, the State Security Emergency Court sentenced her to five years in prison in 2018. Her family was shocked to learn that she was once more involved in new cases based on the same charges even after the sentence had expired, which furthers her suffering both legally and personally.
Hoda Abdel Moneim’s case is a clear example of how Egypt’s laws violate the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression. Recycling cases is an arbitrary practice that prolongs detention without a fair trial, which is against both Egyptian and international law. The international community and local and international human rights organizations must intervene to pressure the government to stop these practices and ensure that Hoda Abdel Moneim and all others arbitrarily detained receive the medical care they need and that those responsible for the violations they endured are held accountable.
