In a new escalation of violations of basic rights in Egypt, the Cairo Criminal Court for Terrorism renewed the detention of 352 detainees in a one-hour-long court session.
The session was held via video conference, without the detainees’ actual presence in the courtroom, and without enabling them to speak or defend themselves The court also prevented the defense team from presenting their legal pleadings.
However, the session was limited to naming the detainees and confirming their case numbers, before issuing the decision.
The detainees in the (10th 6) prison refused to appear via video conference, in protest against these procedures, which they considered a violation of their legal rights and a clear indication of the continuation of their arbitrary detention without fair trials.
In return; the defense team decided to withdraw from the session, stressing that what happened constituted a serious violation of the most basic standards of legal justice, as the lawyers were not allowed to present any defense arguments.
A member of the defense team stated in media statements that the court allocated no more than 20 seconds for each detainee, which was not enough to even prove any objections or present legal defenses.
These practices constitute a flagrant violation of international human rights conventions, including the right to a fair trial, which requires demanding that the Egyptian authorities stop these violations, enable the detainees to exercise their legal rights to defend themselves, and allow lawyers to perform their professional duties without restrictions, in respect of Egypt’s international human rights obligations
