CAIRO – No detention, but a fine of 10 thousand Egyptian pounds (about 564 euros) for having “insulted the electoral authority” is the sentence handed down in Egypt to the well-known human rights activist, Hossam Bahgat, director of the NGO Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (Eipr), with which the young Patrick Zaky also collaborates.
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The activist had ended up in the bar for a tweet denouncing alleged fraud against the president of the electoral commission, during the parliamentary elections of 2020. He faced up to three years in prison and a fine of 30,000 Egyptian pounds. Faced with what he risked, he comments to thebreaking latest news Riccardo Noury, spokesman for Amnesty International Italia, “you can breathe a sigh of relief”. “However, the fact remains that a completely legitimate exercise of freedom of expression has been brought to court and that its author has been sanctioned”.
Eipr has been in the crosshairs of the authorities several times in recent years: in addition to Bahgat, three other members were jailed in 2020, Zaky is in his 22nd month of detention and the next hearing of the trial against him for “diffusion is scheduled for December 7. of fake news “.
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