Zaki: "I risk a lot in the trial against free speech"

   "I'm fine, there will be the next hearing on June 21. The proceedings began in September, I found myself in court for writing an article on the situation of the Coptic Christian minority" in Egypt, "because I talked about the religious minority, now I risk a lot, because mine is a question of free speech ".

This was stated by Patrick Zaki, the Egyptian student of the University of Bologna released in December after 22 months of detention in Egypt and still awaiting trial.

Zaki spoke at the Wired Next Fest in Florence talking about the 'rule of law'.

Zaki had written about the persecution of Copts in Egypt.

"I am really surprised at what has happened in recent years - Zaki also added, always referring to his detention - of all the support I had, I am grateful to be part of the great Italian family. I was lucky to have studied in Bologna because I felt the support from the first moment, or I heard it through social media. Much more needs to be done because there is a lot of awareness still to be done. There are still many people who are detained and we need to talk about them too. "

"Social media play an important role in the war in Ukraine. From the first moment we knew everything, we know a lot of details from the first day, we know what is happening. In some cases it was essential to access the news via social media. There are many violations of the human rights, in particular the situation of Arab citizens "present in Ukraine" and refugees leaving the cities of Ukraine, was reported thanks to social media, it is an issue that touches me closely ".

This was highlighted by Patrick Zaki, the Egyptian student of the University of Bologna released in December after 22 months of detention in Egypt for an article and who is still awaiting trial.

    Zaki talked about it in a video link with an event in Florence.

    "Social media have played an important role in this situation - reiterated Zaki - it was also possible to create a working group to support the Ukrainian population, to welcome them. There are many messages of support towards women compared to what, instead , had happened in the past, so we can know what happens. It is a fundamental platform from this point of view. " 

"The future of democracy is closely related to free speech, which is one of the cornerstones of democracy."

Even so, the Egyptian student Patrick Zaki intervened in his video link with an event in Florence.

    On social media, he added, "everything should be published, that's what I think; everything should be published under normal conditions. In my case it was said that I'm a terrorist because I share my opinions" but "I think everything should be published in normal conditions, everyone must be able to write whatever they think ".

"Social media are very important to understand reality. Today we are all exposed to the lives of others - concluded Zaki - they help us understand and perceive reality, we are all directly interested".