24/11/20

The pretrial detentions of Egyptian lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdelmonem and political prisoner Aisha al-Shater have expired, Amnesty International has said, calling for their immediate release.
Abdelmonem and Shater had been arrested on 1 November 2018 and went missing until they appeared at the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Cairo a few weeks later on 21 November.
On Saturday, the two women completed two years in provisional detention, and therefore must be released, says Amnesty.
“Their detention has bypassed the absolute legal limit set forth by article 143 of the code of criminal procedures,” said Hussein Bayoumi, Egypt researcher at Amnesty International.
“That being said, their detention has always been unlawful,” he told MEE.
According to article 143, the maximum two-year limit is only applicable if the detainee was facing charges that could see them sentenced to death or life in prison. But if the detainees were facing charges in a felony punishable by less than life in prison, the maximum limit was 18 months, Bayoumi explained.
“We call on Egyptian authorities to release Hoda and Aisha, as their detention was arbitrary in the first place,” he said.
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https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-women-political-prisoners-pretrial-detention-expired