URGENT ACTION

ARBITRARILY DETAINED EGYPTIAN ACTIVIST RELEASED

On 26 March 2019, Egyptian activist Islam Khalil was released on probation after more than a year in arbitrary detention. A judge in the terrorism circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court had ordered his release on 19 February. Instead of releasing Islam, the authorities held him incommunicado since 25 February, refusing to inform his family of his whereabouts. Despite his release, Islam is still facing bogus charges and must spend two hours at a police station twice a week as per his probation terms.

NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.

On 19 February 2019, a judge ordered Islam Khalil’s release on probation. On 25 February, Islam was moved from Tora Investigation Prison to a police station in his hometown of al-Santa, in al-Gharbiyah governorate to complete his release procedures. Instead of releasing him as per the court ordered, the authorities held him incommunicado and refused to inform his family of his whereabouts. He was finally released on probation on 26 March.

National Security Agency (NSA) officers had abducted Islam on 10 March 2018. It took his family three weeks to finally learn that he was in Tora Investigation Prison. The authorities then kept Islam in arbitrary detention pending investigation into trumped-up charges of “membership in an illegal group” and “disseminating false information” for over a year, despite all his co-defendants being released in September 2018. Amnesty International believes his detention and the trumped-up charges brought against him have been in retaliation for his political activism. 

Islam had already been forcibly disappeared in 2015, for 122 days. During this period, Islam was also subjected to torture, solitary confinement, and harsh prison conditions. 

Amnesty International had called on the Egyptian authorities to reveal Islam’s whereabouts, to release him and to drop all the charges against him.  

NAME AND PREFERRED PRONOUN: Islam Khalil (he/him)

THIS IS THE FOURTH AND FINAL UPDATE FOR UA 176/18

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1200232019ENGLISH.pdf