Ahmed Samir Santawy
Personal Information
Name: Ahmed Samir Santawy
Nationality: Egyptian
Age: 29
Occupation: Master's researcher at Central European University
Incidents of Violation
Ahmed Samir Santawy is an Egyptian master's researcher at CEU who was spending his academic leave with his family in Cairo Governorate. On Monday 30 December 2021, Ahmed went to the Fifth Settlement police station in Cairo in response to a summons from National Security (one of the Egyptian security agencies), after police had raided his home and terrorised his family. Ahmed went to the police station, after which contact with Ahmed Samir was lost. When his family asked about him at the station, the station denied that he was there. His family sent telegrams to the Public Prosecutor asking that his whereabouts be disclosed.
On 6 February 2021, the State Security Prosecution ordered that researcher and master's student Ahmed Samir be detained for 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 65 of 2021 (State Security Prosecution). The State Security Prosecution charged Santawy with offences including joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes, spreading false news and statements liable to harm security and public order, and using a social media account for the purpose of spreading false news.
Meanwhile, the President of Central European University, Michael Ignatieff, called on the Egyptian authorities to release Santawy and return him to his family and his studies immediately, while the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) issued a statement expressing its concern at Santawy's detention by the Egyptian authorities and urging them to take all necessary steps to ensure Santawy's swift and safe release and to respect his legal rights.
On 23 February 2021, the State Security Prosecution summoned Santawy to continue questioning him. During the questioning, the Prosecution added a new charge against Santawy, financing a terrorist group, without informing him of the name of that group.
Santawy complained to the State Security Prosecution that he had been held in solitary confinement in the reception ward since entering Tora Liman Prison, and that no food supplies had been allowed in for him, nor had he even been able to buy from the prison canteen, even though his family had deposited money in the canteen.
Before the Prosecution, Santawy stated that he had been physically assaulted by the deputy warden of Tora Liman Prison on the day before he was summoned again to the Prosecution, which led the defence team to request that he be examined by a forensic doctor and that the incident be investigated.
On 22 May 2021, the Supreme State Security Prosecution summoned Santawy for questioning in a new case, No. 877 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution). The Prosecution brought against him the same charges as in the case in which he was already detained, namely joining a terrorist group and spreading false news and statements liable to harm security and public order, before ordering his detention for 15 days, to begin after the end of his detention in the first case.
On 29 May 2021, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Santawy for expedited trial before the Emergency Supreme State Security Court on the charges in the new case, No. 877 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), in which he had been summoned for questioning while in detention and in which he was accused of spreading false news about the internal situation in Egypt abroad. The case was registered as No. 774 of 2021 (Emergency Supreme State Security Misdemeanours), and its first hearing was held on 1 June 2021.
On 22 June 2021, the Emergency Supreme State Security Court sentenced Santawy to four years in prison and a fine of 500 Egyptian pounds in Case No. 774 of 2021 (Emergency State Security Misdemeanours), registered as No. 877 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution). This judgment is final and cannot be appealed because it was issued by the Emergency Supreme State Security Court, an exceptional court to which defendants are referred while a state of emergency is in force; however, under the Emergency Law, the President of the Republic may annul or reduce the sentence, order a retrial or ratify it.
On 17 February 2022, Samir's lawyer, human rights lawyer Ahmed Ragheb, announced that the office for the ratification of judgments of the Emergency Supreme State Security Court had annulled Samir's prison sentence and that he would be retried before the Emergency Supreme State Security Misdemeanours Court in First Settlement.