Cairo: 22 March 2020

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) released today a report about lawyers imprisoned in Egypt because of their work in defending prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, or because of voicing their views. These lawyers have been jailed amid the former Bar Association board’s inaction and failure to defend them, and while the election of the new board coincides with the coronavirus pandemic, releasing the detained lawyers has become urgent and necessary to preserve their lives and put an end to this crime.

The report, entitled “Charged with being a lawyer…Lawyers detained as punishment for doing their job”, cites 17 examples of lawyers who have been held in pretrial detention for period that exceeded the two years in some cases, at time the remand detention has become a tool of punishment against dozens of imprisoned lawyers, and thousands of prisoners of conscience in Egypt. In spite of the previous historical role of the Bar Association, not only in defending its members, but also for all prisoners of conscience in Egypt- whether they are lawyers or not, it has failed to fulfill its role in defending the detained lawyers this time.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak and the election of a new board of the Bar Association, releasing detained lawyers has become a necessity and a matter of life or death in order to prevent the continuation of this crime. The new board should therefore give priority to restore the Bar Association’s role in n defending the rights and freedoms of its members and make this goal among its first tasks.

You can read the report through the following link:   

Charged with being a lawyer… Lawyers detained as punishment for doing their job

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