Exactly one year ago, on 22 September 2019, Mahienour El-Massry was arrested in front the State Security Prosecution office in Cairo, where she was following up on the investigations into a lawyer who was detained. El-Massry remains in detention until now.
El-Massry’s arrest seems to be connnected to her legitimate activities as a lawyer and the representation of detainees that were arrested during demonstrations demanding the resignation of the Egyptian president Abdelfattah Al-Sisi. On 23 September 2019, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered 15 days of preventive detention for Mahienour El-Massry. She is facing charges of “joining an illegal group”, “publishing false news”, and “misuse of social media”. Her preventive detention has been prolonged ever since.
Moreover, according to our information, El-Massry was interrogated on 30 August 2020 on new charges of ‘belonging to a terrorist organization, publishing false news, and misusing social media’. El-Massry’s lawyer, Khaled Ali, pointed out that these accusations seem unlikely due to the fact that El-Massry is not allowed any visitors or means of communications in prison. Reportedly, this new case was filed against El-Massry to keep her in pre-trial detention.
Lawyers for Lawyers has repeatedly asked attention and expressed concern about the continued detention of El-Massry.
