"We still cannot understand the accusations made against Patrick, our son has never been a source of threat or danger to anyone , on the contrary, he has been a constant source of support and help for many people". So the family of Patrick George Zaky, the Egyptian student who attends a European master's degree in Bologna, arrested in Cairo, in a note released on the Facebook page 'Patrick free' created by activists to keep attention on the case high.
In Egypt Zaky " asked to be visited by a coroner to put the traces of the torture suffered", according to Hoda Nasrallah, one of the lawyers who follows the Egyptian student's case. "He was subjected to electric shock and hit, but in such a way as not to show traces on his body," said the lawyer contacted by ANSA in Cairo.
Amnesty International reports: Patrick underwent a 17-hour interrogation , blindfolded and handcuffed all the time, with threats, blows to the stomach, back and tortured with electric shock.
The declaration of the Zaky family
Last night in Rome in via Salaria, on the wall surrounding Villa Ada, a few steps from the Embassy of Egypt, the last work of the Street Artist Laika appeared which portrays Giulio Regeni embracing the student arrested in Egypt Zaki , with I wear a prison uniform. In front of the two figures stands the word "Libertà" written in Arabic. In the work, Regeni reassures Zaki, saying: "This time everything will be fine". "This phrase - explains the artist - has a double meaning, it serves to reassure Patrick, but above all to put the Egyptian government and the international community before his own responsibilities. What happened to Giulio Regeni and too many others cannot be allowed to happen again. This time it MUST be all right. I hope that this story will end well and that Zaki will be freed as soon as possible. I also hope that, despite not being an Italian citizen, our country will be able to monitor what is happening. this little gesture of mine was a stimulus to the media to turn even more the spotlight on the story of Zaki ".
The mobilization of NGOs, civil society and the student community continues in favor of Patrick Zaky. A presidium was organized at the Scientific Documentation Center, home of the Institute of Studies on Women and Gender of the University of Granada, Spain, the university that coordinates the master. Other initiatives, in Bologna but not only, are planned by Amnesty International.
Demonstration for Patrick today in Granada, Spain. @GEMMA_MasterEM #FreePatrick #PatrickLibero pic.twitter.com/2zfPJiZ6fD
- FreePatrick (@ FreePatrick3) February 11, 2020