{"id":17682,"date":"2025-02-10T19:27:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T17:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=17682"},"modified":"2026-10-08T06:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:37:23","slug":"referrals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/referrals\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than 8,000 Defendants Sent to Trial as Egypt\u2019s Terrorism Courts Face a Backlog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt\u2019s terrorism circuits are facing a major wave of referrals. Zawia3 has documented 138 cases sent by the Supreme State Security Prosecution to criminal trial in just four months, from October 2024 through January 2025. The cases were registered between 2017 and 2024 and involve more than 8,000 defendants, most still in pretrial detention, according to the reporting. A smaller number have been released pending proceedings.<\/p>\n

Lawyers interviewed by Zawia3 describe this as one of the largest waves of referrals since 2013. With only three designated terrorism circuits handling these cases, defence teams and human rights advocates fear that the volume will undermine fair-trial guarantees and leave defendants waiting years for judgments.<\/p>\n

The review identified five cases registered in 2017, four in 2018, nine in 2019, 26 in 2020, 44 in 2021, 46 in 2022, three in 2023 and one in 2024. These are case-registration years, not the dates when the cases were referred to trial.<\/p>\n

Observers interviewed for the report view the referrals as an attempt to shift responsibility for prolonged detention from prosecutors to trial courts, amid domestic and international criticism of detention exceeding statutory limits. Some defendants in cases dating to 2017 had reportedly spent more than seven years in custody.<\/p>\n

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The concern is that moving a case to court may change the authority ordering detention without bringing defendants closer to release or a timely verdict.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Under Article 143 of the Criminal Procedure Code in force at the time of this report, detention limits vary with the offence and reach two years for offences punishable by death or life imprisonment. The rule covers investigation and trial; referral alone does not restart the clock. A 2013 amendment created an exception for the Court of Cassation and the retrial court after a death or life sentence, as explained in Egypt\u2019s response to the UN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Cases
Cases referred between October 2024 and January 2025, grouped by registration year. Source: Zawia3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Politicians, journalists and rights defenders<\/h2>\n

A senior judicial source tells Zawia3 that more than 8,000 people were included in the referrals. Among them are former MPs Bahi al-Din Mohamed Abdel Dayem Mansour, Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Hadi and Abdullah Ahmed al-Hindawi.<\/p>\n

The journalists named include Gamal al-Gamal, Ahmed Abu Zeid al-Tanoubi, Hossam al-Suweifi, former Anadolu regional director Tawfiq Ghanem and photojournalist Hamdy al-Zaeem. Riad Kamal al-Din, brother of broadcaster Sami Kamal al-Din, is also among those referred.<\/p>\n

Human rights figures include lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim, Ibrahim Abdel Moneim Metwally, founder of the Association of Families of the Forcibly Disappeared, and lawyer Ahmed Nazier al-Helw.<\/p>\n

Others include political science professor Amgad Khalil al-Gabbas, researcher Moataz Bellah Hassab al-Nabi and physician Hatem Mohamed Rashed, a former adviser to the supply minister.<\/p>\n

The list also includes relatives of prominent political figures: al-Hussein Khairat al-Shater, son of the Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s deputy supreme guide; Anas Mohamed al-Beltagy, son of Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagy; and Ola al-Qaradawi, daughter of the late cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi.<\/p>\n

The referrals come amid growing criticism that criminal proceedings are being used to restrict dissent, and questions over the authorities\u2019 approach to public freedoms.<\/p>\n

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Recurring accusations across the files<\/h2>\n

Documents obtained by Zawia3 show repeated formulations of charges in the referred cases. A senior Supreme State Security Prosecution source says the principal accusations recur across the files.<\/p>\n

\"An
An excerpt from a prosecution document obtained by Zawia3, setting out allegations in a referred case.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some defendants are accused of holding leadership positions in the Muslim Brotherhood, which the prosecution characterises as a terrorist organisation seeking to change the system of government by force, attack military and police personnel and facilities, and target public infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Others face accusations of joining an unlawfully established group allegedly seeking to obstruct the constitution and laws, prevent public authorities and state institutions from operating, violate personal freedoms and harm national unity and social peace.<\/p>\n

\"A
A further excerpt from the case documents reviewed by Zawia3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The charges also include participating in the group\u2019s objectives with knowledge of its purposes, and financing terrorism by collecting, possessing, transferring or providing money, documents and safe accommodation allegedly intended to support terrorist offences. These are prosecution allegations, not findings of guilt.<\/p>\n

\"A
A page from the prosecution records accompanying this report.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A senior prosecution source tells Zawia3 that Prosecutor General Mohamed Shawky Ayyad instructed the Supreme State Security Prosecution to resolve cases that had remained open for years and involved defendants held beyond the applicable detention limits. The source identified senior prosecutor Khaled Diaa al-Din as the recipient of those instructions.<\/p>\n

According to the source, the instructions focused on cases registered between 2017 and 2022 and followed mounting complaints about prolonged detention, as well as recommendations from the National Dialogue.<\/p>\n

The source says prosecutors were instructed either to close files for insufficient evidence and release defendants, or to refer cases to criminal trial where they considered the evidence sufficient. Investigations were continuing daily, and a substantial number of files had already been referred. A prosecution decision to proceed does not establish a defendant\u2019s guilt.<\/p>\n

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A change of forum, rather than an end to detention?<\/h2>\n

Ahmed Helmy, a lawyer practising before the Court of Cassation and Supreme Constitutional Court who leads the defence of hundreds of those referred, believes the authorities are trying to improve Egypt\u2019s international image. He describes the prolonged detention of his clients as detention outside the law.<\/p>\n

Helmy also attributes the timing to international pressure and says the International Monetary Fund demanded reforms concerning pretrial detention. This report has not established such a funding condition. The claim is not substantiated by a document supplied here, and the IMF\u2019s published 2024 programme documents<\/a> do not identify that specific condition. It should therefore be understood as Helmy\u2019s unverified assertion, not an established requirement of the IMF programme.<\/p>\n

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Helmy argues that referring long-running cases enables the authorities to present detention as a matter for trial judges while defendants remain behind bars. His criticism concerns the practical continuation of detention; referral does not itself remove the statutory limits.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He expects the three circuits\u2019 workload to make swift judgments unlikely. He estimates that proceedings could take at least two or three years, and possibly five years or longer. Setting hearing dates, authorising lawyers, obtaining copies of case files, hearing witnesses and presenting arguments all take time, particularly in cases involving hundreds of defendants.<\/p>\n

For Helmy, the result risks being a disguised transfer of detention from prosecutors to courts, rather than a resolution of the underlying problem.<\/p>\n

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Families describe worsening health and repeated cases<\/h2>\n

Hoda Abdel Moneim is among the most prominent defendants referred. Her husband, human rights lawyer Khaled Badawy, tells Zawia3 that the family is enduring its most difficult period after her referral in a third case involving accusations similar to those previously brought against her.<\/p>\n

Badawy says learning of the new case triggered a severe deterioration in her physical and psychological health. He appeals for presidential intervention on medical grounds, noting that she is over 66 and has serious health problems.<\/p>\n

He says Abdel Moneim had spent 13 months in pretrial detention in Case 730 of 2020 after completing a five-year sentence in Supreme State Security Case 1552 of 2018. As the family anticipated her release, another referral on similar accusations compounded their distress.<\/p>\n

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Families say repeated cases can turn an expected release into another period of indefinite waiting, even after an acquittal or completion of a sentence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mohamed Abdel Gawad Beidaq describes a similar experience involving his brother Hamada, 60. He tells Zawia3 that Hamada was acquitted in three cases and released in a fourth, only to be placed in a fifth case involving the same kinds of accusations.<\/p>\n

He says his brother has asthma and severe respiratory allergies that worsen in cramped, poorly ventilated detention conditions. The family has appealed to the prosecutor general, Interior Ministry, prison authorities, Supreme State Security Prosecution and justice minister for his release or replacement of detention with appropriate precautionary measures. He describes the deterioration as a form of slow death.<\/p>\n

Former Court of Cassation vice-president Mohamed Nagi Derbala argues that the terrorism circuits are unconstitutional and inconsistent with international standards of judicial independence. He objects to assigning particular judges to fixed categories of cases for extended periods, rather than regularly rotating case assignments among competent judges.<\/p>\n

In his view, keeping the same judges in these circuits for more than a decade undermines impartiality and raises concerns over the direction of judgments. These are his legal criticisms, rather than a report of a binding court ruling invalidating the circuits.<\/p>\n

Derbala links the timing of the referrals to Egypt\u2019s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council. He believes the authorities wanted to suggest that the problem of detention beyond legal limits had been resolved.<\/p>\n

He argues that moving files from prosecution to trial does not demonstrate an intention to close politically sensitive cases. If courts cannot hear them within a reasonable period, defendants may remain detained for years.<\/p>\n

Derbala also criticises the courts\u2019 operation inside prison complexes, which he says restricts direct contact with defendants and the free examination of witnesses. He alleges that judges who act independently may face disciplinary measures or transfer to other assignments, including family courts, strengthening executive influence.<\/p>\n

He concludes that these practices undermine judicial integrity and expose trials to domestic and international criticism over the absence of essential defence guarantees.<\/p>\n

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Can other criminal circuits share the workload?<\/h2>\n

A member of the Cairo Court of Appeal\u2019s technical office tells Zawia3 that the court is considering how to handle the volume of referrals. Speaking anonymously because staff are prohibited from speaking to the media, the source acknowledges concerns about timely and fair proceedings.<\/p>\n

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The court is considering assigning some cases to other criminal circuits to ease pressure on the three designated terrorism circuits, the source says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The source describes redistribution as legally possible, subject to the court president and general assembly\u2019s assessment and presentation to the Supreme Judicial Council. The relevant criminal circuit presidents are judges of the Cairo Court of Appeal, the source explains, so reallocating cases need not require a complex legislative change.<\/p>\n

According to the source, security considerations informed the concentration of cases in three circuits at the Badr court complex attached to the Badr correctional and rehabilitation centre. The court is seeking to balance security for judges and defendants with the need to accelerate proceedings.<\/p>\n

After Mohamed Morsi\u2019s removal on 3 July 2013, the authorities conducted a wide-ranging crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and opponents of his removal, particularly after the dispersal of the Rabaa and Nahda sit-ins. Tens of thousands were arrested, and the Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated hundreds of cases.<\/p>\n

In December 2013, six criminal court circuits in Greater Cairo were designated to handle terrorism and related violence cases, relieving them of other criminal work. The number rose to seven in 2014 and, according to the contemporary reporting cited in the original article, nine by 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In November 2019, four circuits were removed, leaving five. The number was reduced to three in November 2023<\/a>, based at Badr. Those are the three circuits discussed in this report.<\/p>\n

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The dispute over the circuits\u2019 legitimacy<\/h2>\n

Former Tanta Court of Appeal president Mohamed Awad has also criticised the circuits as incompatible with the constitution. In published remarks, he argued that defendants should appear before their ordinary, independent and competent judge, free from external direction. He characterised the terrorism circuits as exceptional in operation and compared them to military and emergency state security courts.<\/p>\n

In a 2019 report<\/a>, Amnesty International argued that the Supreme State Security Prosecution, National Security Agency and terrorism circuits functioned together to detain and prosecute peaceful critics. The organisation warned that allegations of terrorism were being used to suspend basic protections against arbitrary detention, unfair trials and torture.<\/p>\n

A legal study, Terrorism Circuits: Turning Exceptional Criminal Rules into Permanent Rules<\/em><\/a>, similarly examines how exceptional practices became embedded in ordinary criminal justice. The circuits are formally part of the criminal courts; the dispute concerns their assignment procedures, operation and safeguards, rather than treating them as institutionally identical to emergency state security courts.<\/p>\n

The emergency courts operated under the Emergency Law. The end of a declared state of emergency must be distinguished from repeal of that law: the law itself was not abolished after the January 2011 uprising.<\/p>\n

The central question remains whether the referrals will bring timely trials with effective defence rights and resolve prolonged detention, or merely shift the same unresolved cases into another forum. For defendants and their families, a change in the authority signing detention orders offers little relief if proceedings continue for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zawia3 documents 138 cases referred in four months. Lawyers and families fear that transferring long-running cases to trial will prolong detention rather than resolve it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[390],"tags":[],"kateb":[8763],"class_list":["post-17682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights","kateb-tarek-g-hafiz"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/\u0627\u062e\u062a\u0641\u0627\u0621-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17686,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682\/revisions\/17686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17682"},{"taxonomy":"kateb","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kateb?post=17682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}