Bologna, July 18, 2023 – A few days ago the joy for the degreewhich obviously took place via audio conference. Today the shower, cold, icy: Patrick Zaki was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at another hearing in Mansoura, in Egypt. The student of the University of Bologna (video) AND then he went straight back to prisonwhere has it already happened 22 months and where it came from in December 2021. So it would still remain One year and two months. Hope now depends on the grace of Egyptian President Al-Sisi, under pressure from the international community.
FOCUS / Who is Patrick Zaki and why was he arrested
Patrick Zaki was sentenced to three years in prison in Egypt
A unanimous chorus of pain and support rises for him and his freedom: Bologna is mobilized, it is also positioned there Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who assures: “Our commitment to a positive solution has never ceased, and it continues. We still have faith.”
What was he convicted of?
today was celebratedeleventh hearing in Mansoura in Egypt: Judgment was handed down for his 2019 article ‘Displacement, Killing & Harassment: A Week in the Diaries of Egypt’s Copts’, in which he discussed the situation of coptic community in Egypt. An article that earned him the accusation of “spreading false news.” He the verdict is not appealablenor can it be the object of review.
hope in grace
The Egyptian student was led to the end of the hearing through the passage in the defendants’ cage between the mother cries and of bride waiting outside. According to the lawyer samweil tharwauntil now Zaki He is being held by the police pending a pronouncement from the military governor. Lawyers work for the release of the young man hasn’t been in jail yet to serve his sentence today.
The secretary of the Human Rights Committee of the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies and a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, Mohamad Abdelaziz, wrote on Facebook that his body “received assurances about the investigator Patrick George Zaki and others. Since the reactivation of the presidential pardon commission and the start of the national dialogue, we have perceived a positive spirit and we remain confident in the willingness of the (Egyptian) President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to use his constitutional powers for the public good and create a democratic climate for national dialogue,” he added. The translation is: the only hope is in a pardon from the Egyptian president.
The demonstration in Bologna
A hundred people returned to Zaki square, under the statue of Neptune in Bologna. The yellow banners of Amnesty International return again and forcefully to demand”freedom for kazi”.
Reactions in Bologna: anger and pain
“It’s a terrible news that comes at all earringwhile we still have in our eyes the image of Patrick, a recent graduate with honors in the course that made him choose Bologna”, comments the rector of the unibo Juan Molari I just found out the phrase.
“Let’s hope that it is not confirmed that this sentence means another 14 months in prison: it would be an injustice and immense pain for Patrick, for all his loved ones, for all those who have suffered and resisted with him in recent years – adds Molari- . The entire Alma Mater is close to him right now.”
emma petit, president of the Legislative Assembly of Emilia Romagna says she is stunned and saddened by the sentence of the Egyptian judges. “Patrick Zaki does not deserve all this. unacceptable sentencea clear violation of fundamental rights, we demand full justice for this boy and his immediate release”. For Petitti it is “obvious political decisionagainst which decisive international pressure is needed to force the regime to retrace its steps.
“It is necessary commitment of all, fromEuropean Union– concludes Petitti – we cannot leave this boy alone, just as we cannot accept this staging carried out by the Egyptian courts, we want Patrick in Italy in Bologna, we will not tire of asking for his release”.
The president also spoke on social networks about the news. Stefano Bonaccini:: “The sentence makes the situation of a man even more dramatic young guy which paying freely the mere fact of having expressed his opinion. Come on Patrick, we are by your side.”
Bitterness is the sentiment expressed by the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore for the conviction of the activist. “Today we are faced with a judgment that we expected of the opposite sign, and in which let’s hope to know the reasons. As a city community, we come together around patrick and his family, reserving the right together with the University of Bologna to undertake any initiative towards the Italian government to request his release and full respect for their rights in Egypt. patrick don’t give up bologna is with you”.
Applause in Parliament for Zaki
Anger and bewilderment of the Bolognese parliamentarian of the Pd andres de maria: “TO insult in it justice and elementary principles of respect for human and civil rights”. So the appeal to Government and all institutions: “Make your voice heard and let’s do everything possible to continue supporting Patricio in the face of this new and terrible injustice.”
From the Pd, the support also of the ex-mayor of Bologna, virginio merola:: “I am sure that we will all continue to support Patrick Zaki. A sentence that represents an abuse and a violation of human rights.”
He also spoke in the Chamber of Deputies federica honors, M5sto ask the Government and other tajani minister report in the Chamber on the initiatives in favor of the Egyptian student. “Today we stay surprised by the news of the sentence and we express our total solidarity and closeness to the relatives of Patrick Zaki”, Onori stressed.
The interventions in the Chamber, which were also joined by the green Angelo Bonelli and Benedetto Della Vedova, from +Europa, ended between applause from the deputies.
