Patrick Zaki, ninth hearing in Mansura

The ninth hearing of the trial in which Patrick Zaki faces five years in prison for spreading false news is held this morning in Mansura, Egypt.

As predicted yesterday by the head of his team of lawyers, Mrs. Hoda Nasrallah, only the presentation of "defence documents" is scheduled for today and it is not certain that the lawyers will be allowed to continue with the arguments interrupted in the previous hearing, that of the November 29th.

As known, the monocratic judge has the power to pronounce a sentence at any time.

The researcher and human rights activist, on the loose since 8 December 2021 after 22 months in pre-trial detention on more serious charges related to ten posts on Facebook but informally shelved, is on trial in a State Security Court for petty (or emergency) crimes of his hometown on the Nile Delta.

Patrick, in the trial underway since September 2021, is accused for a 2019 article in which he defended the Copts, Egypt's Christian minority, underlining the bloody persecutions of ISIS in previous years and two cases of social and legal discrimination .

Although free, the 31-year-old gender studies researcher has a travel ban and cannot leave Egypt.

The case, together with the search for those responsible for the torture to death of Giulio Regeni, has a declared political relevance in relations between Italy and Egypt.

In Mansura, as in all previous hearings for the extension of pre-trial detention and of the trial, diplomats from Italy and other countries should be brought as part of a European monitoring of processes relevant to the respect of human rights in Egypt.

Attendances take place regularly upon invitation by the Italian embassy in Cairo.