ECRF lawyer: A defendant was released on probation after contracting Corona Virus

A lawyer of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) said that Alexandria Criminal Court ordered the release of Hamdy Gaber Mohamed on probation on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Hamdy was being held in pretrial detention at Borg El Arab prison since August 2019, in relation to case number 3058 of 2019 administrative Menaa El Basal.  The lawyer explained that the authorities failed to transfer Hamdy on Wednesday to attend his detention hearing at the court, as he was transferred to the prison’s hospital after he felt ill and fainted in his cell.

He also noted that the prison administration sent a memo to the court explaining the reason behind their failure to transfer Hamdy was that he caught cold and had to be transferred to a hospital.

ECRF lawyer stressed that he was present before the court during the hearing session, and that he asked about the reason behind the absence of Hamdy, which the judges attributed to his presence in a hospital due to Corona virus infection. The lawyer then asked the court to allow him to view the prison memo, and to document this incident in the court records.