CAIRO: Youssef Shaaban, Al-Badeel journalist detained on drug and knife possession charges, was still in police custody Friday despite a decision by the public prosecutor on Thursday to release him as he awaits his trial date.
Police arrested Shaaban last Friday, and the prosecution ordered he remain in police custody for four days. His detention period was later extended to 15 additional days last Tuesday.
Shaaban’s arrest has been heavily protested by journalists and human rights organizations, both groups believing that his charges have been fabricated and that his arrest was caused by the articles he wrote regarding the brutality of police in Alexandria.
Ahmed Mamdouh, Shaaban’s lawyer, said that the office of the General Attorney of Alexandria received the decision but has not yet taken any steps to execute it.
The General Attorney’s office, however, stated that they forwarded the decision to the El-Raml Tany police station — the police station in which Shaaban is currently detained — on Thursday, and that it is now the police department’s responsibility to ensure he is released.
El-Raml Tany police station said that there are other authorities responsible for the delayed release of Shaaban, such as state security.
According to Mamdouh, Shaaban should have been released on Thursday night, but the police are prolonging the procedures so that they may keep him in jail for as long as possible.
“This proves that the charges are false and that the police have a personal grudge against Youssef because, if it was an ordinary case, they would’ve released him immediately,” said Khaled El-Bishy, editor-in-chief of Al-Badeel.
El-Bishy added that the police can delay Shaaban’s release but they cannot prevent it, and that he is expected to be released on Saturday.
The decision to release Shaaban came after El-Bishy, along with other journalists and lawyers, filed a complaint to the public prosecutor regarding the violations the prosecution has committed since Shaaban was arrested.
Mamdouh stated that lawyers were not allowed to attend the initial investigation, and that neither Shaaban nor his lawyers were allowed to be present for the decision to extend his detention.
Mamdouh added that there were multiple violations during the first four days of Shaaban’s detention, during which time he was deprived of food, rest, and any contact with his family or lawyers. Mamdouh also stated that the lawyers’ attempts to appeal the extension of Shaaban’s detention were rejected.
“The decision to release Shaaban stems from the prosecution’s belief that his charges are false,” said Mamdouh.
El-Bishy said that the prosecution office was pressured by the complaints of journalists and human rights activists to issue the decision to release Shaaban.
“The decision is meant to prove that the prosecution is not biased against Youssef,” said El-Bishy.
Shaaban’s lawyers will file a complaint to the judicial inspection authority against the public prosecution for “its intransigence in Youssef’s case procedures.”
The lawyers will also sue state-run daily Gomhuria for libel for calling Shaaban a drug user, even though the charges of drug possession against Shaaban are still being investigated.
