Egypt releases activist Hossam Bahgat on bail
Human right activist Hossam Bahgat was released by Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution on a 20,000 Egyptian pounds bail, announced Middle East Monitor on January 21st.
Bahgat is being prosecuted for allegedly participating in the activities of a terrorist group, financing a terrorist group, and spreading false news.
He was questioned by the State of exception court about a statement published by the EIPR, that called for the investigation of claims of worsening conditions in the 6 prisons of the 10th of Ramadan city nearby Cairo.
The conditions prompted the detainees to go on hunger strike, as well as their families reaching out to Hossam Bahgat for help.
The prosecution questioned Bahgat about his sources, trying to obtain the names of families and detainees that had alerted him, as they claimed the activists’ statement to disseminate fake news.
After being summarily summoned and questioned for 3 hours, the court finally decided to release him on bail.
This is not the first time that Bahgat’s association, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), is targeted by the special jurisdiction. In November 2020, three other senior members of the EIPR were arrested following a professional meeting with foreign diplomats.
An international campaign had led to their prompt release, though it did not stop the court from freezing their assets.
Ater that, in december 2020, a state-run newspaper with ties to National Security had published a thinly veil threat against Bahgat.
“It is not unlikely for Hossam to suddenly vanish”. “His followers would claim he was forcibly disappeared or detained. But if he does suddenly disappear then most certainly, he will have joined a terror group abroad”, wrote its editor at the time.
In 2023, Patrick Zaki, another member of the EIPR was pardoned by President al-Sissi after spending nearly two years in Prison where he was tortured.
In 2024, the Egyptian Commission for Human Rights reported that 2,723 Egyptians had been forcibly disappeared in five years.
Middle East Monitor, Africa News