The Cairo Criminal Court rejected on Saturday the appeal that was filed by the prosecution against the release of rights lawyer Malek Adly, seconding the decision of his release that was issued earlier on Thursday.
The decision of Adly’s release was postponed to Saturday after the prosecution had appealed, although it had previously claimed it would not do so.
Lawyer Khaled Ali said on Thursday that the appeal is illegal, since an appeal cannot be appealed against. Adly had previously appealed the extension of his detention, based on which he was granted a release.
The detained rights lawyer was arrested in May on charges of inciting protests, attempting to topple the regime, and spreading false news pertaining to the maritime demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia over the Tiran and Sanafir Islands.
International condemnation sparked shortly after his arrest, as several rights organisations called on the Egyptian government to immediately and unconditionally release Adly and drop all charges against him.
Following Adly’s arrest, he was subjected to severe violations according to his wife Asmaa Aly. She said that he was kept in solitary confinement for over 100 days—solitary confinement is a punitive measure that should not exceed 15 days. Adly wasn’t allowed out of his cell to exercise and his cell was unfurnished, as there was deliberate arbitrariness on the part of the prison administration against him.
Adly’s health continued to severely deteriorate following his arrest. His lawyers had filed a lawsuit before the administrative court, demanding the prison regulations be applied to Adly and his basic rights be granted.
The rights lawyer has been deeply invested in defending human rights since 2008. Currently, he is the head of the lawyers’ network at the Egyptian Center for Social and Economic Rights (ECESR). Adly also was a cofounder of the Front of Defence for Egyptian Protesters (FDEP)
