Egypt: Families Of Human Rights Defenders Targeted With Acts Of Reprisal By The Regime

Location: Egypt, Cairo
Date: August 6, 2020

Available in: 🇸🇦  عربي

We condemn the Imprisonment of filmmaker editor Sanaa Seif, who documented the uprising in Egypt and continues to be vocal about making the regime accountable. Sanaa is also the sister of detained blogger and political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah. CFWIJ finds this imprisonment of Sanaa Seif as a clear violation of Egyptian constitution. The CFWIJ calls upon the Egyptian authorities to release her immediately. The regime must put a stop to such acts of reprisal against families of political dissidents and human rights defenders.

Film editor Sanaa Seif was abducted on June 23, outside the prosecutor's office. Sanaa was forced into a minivan and escorted to the national security prosecution office where she was interrogated over allegations of inciting protests and spreading rumors of health conditions deterioration due to COVID-19 pandemic. Sanaa, her sister Mona, and her mother professor Laila Souif were attacked, robbed, and beaten by some women in front of the Tora prison complex on June 22, while prison guards kept watching without any attempt to stop these attacks.

The next day, she accompanied her family at the prosecutor’s office to file an official complaint against the physical assault. But authorities detained Sanaa and forced her into a minivan instead. She was then taken to the national security prosecution office for interrogation about the charges slapped on her.

According to Sanaa’s lawyers, she has given the following statement during interrogation:

“I lost all hope in change, I only want to support my unjustly prisoned brother and this, I won’t stop doing”.

Following her interrogation, the prosecutor’s office took her into custody using a 15 days pre-trial detention pending case. On July 29, they renewed her arbitrary pre-trial detention in absentia. Sanaa, 26, is the sister of blogger and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who has been imprisoned since September 2019. Alaa was arrested just six months after being released from a five-year jail term in March 2019, under judiciary control measures for five more years. Amidst arrest campaigns in September 2019, He was detained over allegations of indicting protests against the president. Alaa had no political activities since his release especially because of the judiciary control measures that forces him to spend 12 hours in the police station daily.

Sanaa and her family have been going to the Tora prison complex since the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak. They demanded a letter from Alaa and wanted to deliver sanitizers and other sanitary supplies becauses visits to prisoners were suspended since mid-March following precautionary measures amid the novel coronavirus and prison administration refused to deliver their letter or sanitary products to or from Alaa.

Sanaa was active during the Egyptian revolution of 2011, and was a part of the ‘No for Military Trails’ group. Previously, she was detained in June 2014, and stood before trial over allegations of attacking police officers and demolishing public property. Sanaa was then sentenced to three years in jail and a fine 10.000 L.E (approximately $750). She was released on a conditional presidential pardon on September 23, 2015.

CFWIJ is startled by the deterioration of free speech and press freedom in Egypt. We mightily condemn the acts of reprisal against families and relatives of human rights defenders and bloggers and we call upon UN special rapporteurs who are handling reprisal cases to demand the immediate release of Sanaa Seif and to note down Egyptian regime for infringements against freedom of expression and press freedom.

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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.

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