Cairo: Wednesday 16 October 2019
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said today that the police regime in Egypt kidnapped one of its team members today at dawn, lawyer Amr Emam, who was able to publish a brief post on his Facebook account about his arrest, however, the security forces wasted the provisions of the constitution that demand that he be given the right to make a phone call to his lawyers or family members, making it a new kidnapping in a series of incidents carried out by the police regime in recent weeks.
The kidnapping of human rights lawyer Amr Emam comes a few days after the kidnapping of journalist and activist Esraa Abdel Fattah, the attack on ANHRI’s director Gamal Eid in which he was beaten and some of his belongings were stolen, the kidnapping of human rights lawyer Mohammed Al-Baker and the torture of well-known blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah after he was kidnapped. Such crimes show the ardent hostility of the police regime that governs Egypt towards the rule of law and human rights, its disregard to all human values and principles, and its attempt to silence any critical, opposing or rejecting voices against its police approach.
It is worth mentioning that kidnapped lawyer Amr Emam announced his intention to start a gradual sit-up to reject the police procedures and the consecutive kidnapping crimes, which made him feel that his role as a lawyer almost became useless in the absence of accountability from the Public Prosecution to the police officers for their crimes, and even the violation of some of its members of the law by depriving the defendants of their right to have a lawyer attend with them. These are the reasons for which he decided to go on a hunger strike starting Thursday to declare his rejection and protest against a series of consecutive kidnappings and torture, yet the police forces took the initiative and kidnapped him, making him a new victim among thousands of victims like him.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) calls on the security services to immediately release its lawyer Amr Emam and insists that such crimes committed against human rights defenders and against it will not dissuade it from continuing its role in supporting the rule of law and exposing its violators and their crimes.
