Thread by @JimmyGymShoes

@AlsisiOfficial @EgyptEmbassyUSA ; @MotazZahran Ahmed Samir Santawy, started a hunger strike on June 23, 2021 in protest over his unjust conviction by an Emergency State Security Court. He was convicted of publishing “false news to undermine the state, its national interests and

public order and spread panic among the people” and sentenced to four years imprisonment on the basis of social media posts, criticizing human rights violations in Egyptian prisons and the state’s mishandling of the pandemic, that he denied writing. Regardless who wrote the

posts, everyone has the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Egypt is a state party.

Ahmed Samir Santawy, who is currently

jailed at Liman Tora prison, has been arbitrarily detained since February 1, 2021, when he was arrested by officials from the National Security Agency (NSA). The Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) initially ordered his detention pending investigations over unfounded

terrorism-related accusations, on the basis of secret NSA investigations that neither he nor his lawyers have been allowed to examine. That investigation is still ongoing. On May 28, 2021 the SSSP referred him to trial in a separate case.

Amnesty International considers Ahmed Samir Santawy to be a prisoner of conscience, targeted because of his research work on gender and religion, topics on which NSA officers and SSSP prosecutors questioned him extensively.

@AlsisiOfficial I appeal to you to quash the verdict

against Ahmed Samir Santawy, release him immediately and unconditionally, and ensure that investigations into unfounded terrorism-related accusations against him are dropped. In the meantime, I urge you to instruct the Minister of Interior to ensure that he has regular access to

his family, lawyers and adequate healthcare, including in hospitals outside prison, as required.

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