11/30/2021 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Coptic activist Ramy Kamel remains in pre-trial detention for over the two-year maximum permitted. Kamel was detained in November 2019 and has had his detention periodically renewed. Under Article 143 of the Egyptian Penal Code, authorities are not to hold citizens in pre-trial detention for greater than two years if the crimes merit death or life imprisonment, a mandate that is routinely ignored for detained human rights defenders and activists.
Kamel spent nearly 20 months in solitary confinement while facing terrorism-related charges. Yet is it widely believed that his charges are linked to his activism in the Coptic community. Kamel is a founding member of the Maspero Youth Union, a Coptic human rights group that was created following the October 2011 Maspero massacre. The Egyptian military attacked a group of peaceful civil rights protestors, killing over 20 Copts.
Ramy Kamel is one of several prominent Copts currently imprisoned in Egypt and remains imprisoned following the lifting of the nation’s long-running state of emergency. Christians and activists are also facing trial in military emergency courts, which does not allow for appeals to the rulings.
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