The undersigned organizations call for the immediate and unconditional release of photojournalist Hamdy Mokhtar Ali, ‘Hamdy El-Za’eem’, who has been held in pretrial detention for nearly five years pending Case No. 955 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution) on charges stemming from his legitimate work as a journalist. His detention has now exceeded double the legal maximum period allowed under Article 143 of the Egyptian Code of Criminal Procedure, in blatant violation of the law.
In January 2025, El-Za’eem was referred to trial along with 167 other defendants in connection with the same case. The first hearing took place on 26 October 2025, before the Cairo Criminal Court convened at the Badr Security Complex, more than five years after the case was first initiated. The court decided to adjourn proceedings to 30 December 2025, while ordering the continued detention of all defendants.
Over the past nine years, El-Za’eem has faced repeated arbitrary restrictions on his freedom without a single conviction. He was first arrested in September 2016 in front of the Journalists’ Syndicate, and remained in pretrial detention in Case No. 15060 of 2016 (Qasr El-Nil) until June 2018, when a court ordered his release under precautionary measures.
El-Za’eem fully complied with those measures, regularly appearing before the police station and court as required. However, on 5 January 2021, he was arrested again immediately after leaving the police station. For approximately ten days, he was denied any contact with his family or lawyer, and later appeared on 16 January 2021, before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which charged him with joining a terrorist organization and ‘participating in a criminal conspiracy with the intent to commit a terrorist act’.
El-Za’eem, who will soon turn 46 years old, suffers from diabetes, hypertension, and a slipped disc. At the time of his arrest, he was already unwell and exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19, yet the State Security Prosecution ordered his pretrial detention without legal justification, violating Article 134 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The prosecution also disregarded the fact that he is a professional journalist with a known residence, not a flight risk, and the sole provider for his wife and four children, including young minors.
The undersigned organizations urge the Egyptian authorities and the judiciary to uphold the rule of law, end this prolonged injustice, and release Hamdy El-Za’eem immediately. We also call on the court to take into account the human and legal circumstances surrounding his case over the past years, not only the contents of the case file.
Given Hamdy El-Za’eem’s prolonged unlawful detention and the absence of any credible evidence, the undersigned affirm that a verdict of acquittal is the only just and lawful outcome
Signatories:
- Belady an Island for Humanity
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
- El Nadeem Center against Violence and Torture
- Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE)
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
- EgyptWide for Human Rights
- Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
- Egyptian Platform for Human Rights
- Committee for Justice (CFJ)
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