April 6 cofounder Amr Ali conditionally released after 3 years in custody

Amr Ali, the general coordinator of the banned April 6 Youth Movement, is set to be conditionally released after almost one year in remand detention in relation to Case 473/2014, pursuant to a verdict issued by the South Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday, according to Arabic Network for Human Rights Information lawyer Nour Fahmy.

While prosecutors have the right to appeal release orders within 24 hours of their issuance, the Supreme State Security Prosecution has not contested the court’s ruling. Lawyers were informed of the decision on Sunday, Fahmy told Mada Masr, adding that they do not yet know the conditions of the activist's release. 

Ali, a cofounder of the April 6 movement who has been in custody since he was first detained in 2015, was handed a detention order in Case 473/2014 in September last year on charges of joining an outlawed organization, as release procedures were underway following time served in a separate case.

The April 6 Youth Movement member was handed a three-year sentence, later reduced to two years, in February 2016, on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. His release procedures began in late 2017, as the time he spent in remand detention following his 2015 arrest counted toward his time served.

Lawyers have not been permitted to read the case files, and do not know what crime the charges pertain to, according to Fahmy. The lawyer added that following his September 2017 detention order, Ali was kept in solitary confinement in Tora Prison until May of this year.