Mina Thabet, an Egyptian human rights
defender who was arrested on 19 May, has been remanded in custody for an
additional period of 15 days of preventative detention.
Mr Thabet, who specialises in Coptic and
Minority rights, was initially held for four days in preventative detention
following his arrest at his home by plain-clothes police officers in the early
hours of 19 May.
On 21 May, a renewal of detention session was
held at the Misdemeanours Court of Ain Shams in Cairo, where Mr Thabet received
an additional 15 days in detention. He faces charges of belonging to a
terrorist group, inciting violence and public assembly, spreading fabricated
information for terrorist purposes, inciting attacks on police stations and the
possession of leaflets undermining national security and the ruling regime. The
evidence for these charges includes an introductory paper about Egypt’s Bread
and Freedom party, a notebook containing pictures of the Virgin Mary and papers
from Mr Thabet’s work on the rights of religious minorities.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and
Freedoms (ECRF), where Mr Thabet is the Director of the Minority and Religious
Groups Program, reported that during his 3.30am arrest, police broke into his
house, destroyed property belonging to his family and after searching the
property, confiscated papers belonging to Mr Thabet without providing a search
warrant or an arrest warrant. The ECRF also reports Mr Thabet was assaulted by
police officers in front of his family and blindfolded before being put in an
unmarked car and taken to an undisclosed location. When he was finally located
by colleagues, Mr Thabet was not allowed access to legal representation until
12 noon, violating both the Egyptian constitution and legal stipulations.
On the same day and during the same court
session Mr Ahmad Abdallah, the President of the ECRF who faces the same charges
as Mr Thabet, was also sentenced to an additional 15 days detention.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said, “The renewal and extension of Mr Thabet’s
period in detention is very disappointing and we are deeply concerned by the
allegations that have come to light regarding the manner of his arrest. The
violence reportedly utilised by arresting officers and the extended
preventative detention once again highlight the severity of the ongoing
crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders. We state once again that
human rights defenders are not the government’s enemies; they are part of the
necessary checks and balances for a just and equitable society and accountable
governance. We urge the authorities to
ensure that both Mr Thabet and Mr Abdallah receive due process and call for the
exaggerated charges filed against them to be dropped. We also call once again
for the authorities to adhere to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,
which Egypt supported in 1998, which says that States should guarantee the rights
of individuals, including in association with others, to promote and protect
fundamental freedoms, which is all that Mr Thabet and his colleagues are
doing.”