The Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of cassation lawyer and human rights defender, Ahmed El-Helw, for 45 days pending investigations into Case No. 1940 of 2022, Supreme State Security.
The decision was delivered via a video conference, without presenting pleadings.
On Wednesday, during the trial, the defence team for Ahmed El-Helw complained that they were unable to view the case file, charges, or evidence against their client, which resulted in their inability to present their legal defences.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged El -Helw with “joining a terrorist group, publishing false information on Facebook, and calling for demonstrations.”
The security forces arrested El-Helw from his home on November 7, 2022, in a random arrest campaigns as calls to demonstrate on November 11, 2022 were increasing.
The Egyptian authorities forcibly disappeared lawyer El-Helw in one of the National Security headquarters for a week, until he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which decided to renew his detention 10 consecutive times for a period of 15 days. He was then presented before the opposition judge, who ordered the renewal of his detention several times for 45 days.
The renewed detention of El-Helw reflects the threats faced by Egyptian citizens, and the restriction of their freedom to express their opinions and share information to silence critical voices, which requires the international community and human rights organisations to shed light on these violations against journalists, lawyers and human rights activists.
