Lawyers for Lawyers today called on the Egyptian authorities to immediatly drop the charges against lawyer Mahienour el-Massry and to immediatly release her. Ms. El-Massry was detained exactly one year ago today, on 11 May 2015.
On 31 May 2015 the Court of Appeal sentenced Mahienour El-Massry, along with nine activists, to one year and three months imprisonment on charges of, amongst others, “assaulting security forces”. She had been in preventive detention since the first appeal hearing on 11 May 2015.
The conviction of El-Massry followed after an incident in March 2013, when she and other lawyers went to Raml police station to provide legal assistance to three activists who were arrested and sent to the police by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood (the “Raml police station” case). Upon arrival at the police station, the human rights defenders were verbally abused by the police. They subsequently began a peaceful protest sit-in inside the police station.
Lawyers for Lawyers is concerned about the reported deterioration of the detention conditions of Mahienour el-Massry in the Damanhour prison in Egypt and will continue to closely monitor her situation.
