Informed Egyptian sources who asked for anonymity reported that Patrick Zaki is on a black-list that will prevent him from going to Italy before the end of the trial and an acquittal. “Yes, he is on the black list,” the sources told Ansa, contradicting what Patrick said recently on TV. “He will not be able to leave until after the end of the trial,” they added, admitting that they do not know whether the researcher has a passport or not: “But it doesn’t matter, because he is forbidden to travel” abroad, he reiterated.
Interviewed by Fabio Fazio at Che tempo che fa Sunday evening, Patrick instead said he was sure he had no travel ban for the moment. “I think I can come to Italy as soon as possible,” the student then added. The next hearing in the trial where the Egyptian student from the University of Bologna is accused of “spreading false news inside and outside the country” is set for February 1 and there are no reliable predictions on the length of the trial. On that occasion, the defense should present an already announced defensive brief.
In the December 7 hearing in which he was released from prison the next day, his main lawyer, Hoda Nasrallah, requested the acquisition of footage of surveillance cameras at the Cairo airport, a report from the internal secret services and of a police report to show that between 7 and 8 February two years ago Patrick was illegally captured. The head of the defense pool also asked for the documents of an old trial and the calling of a witness to prove that the article written by Zaki did not propagate falsehoods. The activist faces another 5 years in prison in addition to the 22 months already spent in custody.