Lobby group says 3 detainees released Sunday: YouTuber Shady Sorour, researcher Shaima Samy, party member Ziad Aboul Fadl

Researcher Shaimaa Samy, YouTuber Shady Sorour and Bread and Freedom Party member Ziad Aboul Fadl were released on Sunday, after all were held in remand detention on terrorism and false news charges for over a year. 

The International Dialogue Group (IDG), a body headed by former MP and Reform and Development Party chair Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat which lobbies for the release of political prisoners, announced on Sunday evening that the Public Prosecution had issued the release orders.

Aboul Fadl, a member of the leftist Bread and Freedom Party which is still awaiting formal recognition, was detained in March 2019 on charges of joining a terrorist group, misusing social media and spreading false news. He was ordered released by a criminal court in November, before the prosecution added him to a new case in the same month.

Samy, meanwhile, was first detained in May 2020 on similar charges and ordered released in January, only to be added to a new case and detained again in the same month.

The Public Prosecution frequently adds detainees to new cases, often bypassing release orders issued by the courts as well as prolonging the two year legal limit on remand detentions.

Sorour was arrested by security forces at Cairo International Airport in December 2019 upon arrival from the US and detained on similar charges.

Sorour was detained in the same investigation as several journalists and activists including Solafa Magdy, Esraa Abdel Fattah and Mahienour al-Massry, who were also recently released. The Public Prosecution has acted this year to release several detainees in coordination with the International Dialogue Group.

Sadat has told Mada Masr that the IDG, a body comprising members of both parliamentary chambers, approaches the head of the Senate, security departments within the Interior Ministry and the public prosecutor’s office to request they review cases of detainees held in remand, or of convicted and sentenced detainees who are eligible for pardon or release. The group also lobbies for easing travel restrictions that courts can place on defendants during investigations.

A political party source connected to the IDG told Mada Masr that while the pace of releases has been slower and less frequent than politicians expected, the authorities have not been intransigent and have not imposed strict conditions regarding the releases.