On Saturday, September 2, 2023, the first session of the trial of Egyptian journalist and publisher Hisham Kassem took place in front of the Economic Court in Cairo. The court decided to continue his detention until the next session on September 9th.
Kassem, a publisher and human rights advocate, was referred to the public prosecutor’s office on August 20th. He is the chairman of the board of trustees of the “Free Liberal” movement in Egypt, which includes liberal opposition parties. Kamal Abu Aita, a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee and one of the prominent participants in the national dialogue, filed a complaint of slander and defamation against Kassem, leading to his arrest on charges of slander, defamation, and verbal assault.
It is worth noting that several political forces and human rights organizations have called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Kassem without any conditions.
In a joint statement, 12 Egyptian human rights organizations stated that Kassem’s lawyers have not been able to obtain a copy of his case file so far, which undermines his rights in the required legal procedures.
The organizations said, “This detention of Kassem follows his participation in the establishment of the Free Liberal alliance, a coalition of liberal political parties and opposition figures seeking alternative economic policies.”
The organizations also emphasized that the Egyptian authorities targeted Kassem because of his peaceful opposition and his support for democracy. They also expressed concern that Kassem might join the ranks of the tens of thousands of political prisoners who have faced harsh sentences after show trials or have been held in pretrial detention for years.
They stated, “Despite its alarming human rights record over the past decade, Egypt still receives significant financial and economic support from Western governments and international financial institutions.” They continued, “While the Egyptian authorities recently claimed to be addressing the human rights situation, the detention of Kassem and the recent arbitrary measures associated with it are another indicator that they lack any intention to change their course.”
The organizations called on the international community to demand the release of Kassem and other political prisoners who are detained.
The pace of political arrests in Egypt has escalated. While there is a national dialogue called for by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, one of its goals being to address the worsening human rights situation since he came to power in 2013, Karim Asaad, a journalist at a fact-finding platform, was detained for two days for revealing details of a scandal involving officials in transferring money, minerals, and weapons in Zambia.
Furthermore, Reporters Without Borders, PEN International, and the International Federation of Journalists condemned the detention of the father of Egyptian journalist Ahmed Gamal Ziada on charges of spreading “false information,” despite his use of social media only to promote a clothing workshop he manages. Several international organizations accused the Egyptian authorities of seeking to “silence exiled journalists.”
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, also condemned the “retaliatory action against the work of Ahmed Gamal Ziada.”
