CAIRO (AP) — Two prominent figures from Egypt's human rights community were released from prison Thursday, according to their families and a rights defender.
The releases of Patrick George Zaki, an activist and postgraduate student in Italy, and Mohamed el-Baker, a human rights lawyer, came a day after they were pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi along with four other people. Confirmation of the pardons was published in Egypt's Official Gazette.
The release of Zaki, whose case was championed by Italy's government, was announced by Hossam Bahgat, founder of Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who posted a picture of the bearded postgraduate student on Facebook on Thursday afternoon. His sister, Marise Zaki, also confirmed his release, posting a photo on Facebook of him speaking to journalists after his release.
“Patrick is on the Asfalt,” she wrote on Facebook, using a phrase that activists often use when detainees walk free.
The Egyptian government has relentlessly silenced dissidents and clamped down on independent organizations for years with arrests, detentions, prison sentences and other restrictions. But it has pardoned dozens of detainees in recent months after its human rights record came under international scrutiny when it hosted the U.N. climate change summit in November.
Zaki, who is Christian, was arrested in February 2020, shortly after landing in Cairo on a trip home from Italy where he was studying at the University of Bologna, over an opinion article he wrote in 2019. He was released in December 2021 after spending 22 months in pretrial detention, but had to remain in Egypt and wasn’t allowed to travel abroad, pending trial.
On Tuesday, Zaki had been sentenced to three years in prison because of the 2019 article.
In an ANSA video — aired on Italy’s SkyTG24 — Zaki was seen hugging his sister and other family members in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura.
“We’re very happy. Finally, this calamity came to an end,” his sister, Marise, told The Associated Press over the phone while traveling from Mansoura to Cairo.
In a recorded speech late Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Zaki would return to Italy on Thursday.
“I want to thank the intelligence, both Italian and Egyptian diplomats, who in recent months have never stopped working to reach the desired solution.” Meloni said. The Italian government had repeatedly called for Zaki’s release since his arrest.
However, it remained unclear whether Zaki would be able to travel. Egyptian authorities often retain travel bans on former detainees after their release.
Zaki’s case has reverberated across Italy, with his sentencing reminding many of the tragic fate of Italian student Giulio Regeni who was abducted and killed in Cairo in 2016.
After obtaining his master’s degree earlier this month, Zaki plans to embark on a doctorate, his father, George Zaki, has said. He also plans to get married later this year, his father added.
Later Thursday, Bahgat said on Twitter that el-Baker had also been released. The news was confirmed by his lawyer, Ahmed Ragheb.
El-Baker was arrested in September 2019 while attending prosecutors’ questioning of another prominent activist, Alaa Abdel-Fattah. He was accused of disseminating false news, misuse of social media and joining a terrorist group and was sentenced to four years in prison late in 2021. Abdel-Fattah, one of the most prominent activists in the country, was sentenced to five years in prison on the same charges.
Luise Amtsberg, German commissioner for human rights and humanitarian assistance, welcomed the release of Zaki and el-Baker as a “step in the right direction.” Writing on Twitter, Amtsberg urged Egypt’s government to “continue resolutely along this path” of releasing detained rights defenders.
The European Union also praised the releases, describing them as “a positive development for EU-Egypt relations.”
Lawyers representing the four other less well-known detainees said they also were released.
Rights groups estimate that thousands of political prisoners remain in custody in Egypt, many without trials.
