Eleven human rights organizations have called on Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against former MP and politician Ahmed Tantawy, denouncing the ongoing targeting of him, his supporters and his family.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the groups demanded the dismissal of two recent cases against Tantawy. They also called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, reiterating their “unequivocal rejection of the systematic retaliatory practices against them, especially the policy of recycling charges and fabricating cases to ensure their continued imprisonment."
Tantawy and his former presidential campaign manager, Mohamed Abu Deyar, are currently serving one-year prison sentences with labor on charges of possessing and circulating election-related materials without prior approval from the National Election Authority.
According to their defense, the materials in question included petition forms that had been downloaded from the official electoral website—a detail their lawyers argued demonstrated the charges were politically motivated. The sentence was upheld on appeal and by the Court of Cassation.
On April 28, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered Tantawy’s release in connection with two newer cases, which alleged incitement to protest and involvement in a terrorist act. Tantawy's lawyer, Khaled Ali, called the move "a positive step" and suggested it might indicate the authorities were not intent on pursuing further charges through so-called recycling tactics.
The statement from the rights groups expressed deep concern about the potential extension of Tantawy’s detention, especially after he was summoned from prison for questioning in the new cases. His detention is officially scheduled to end on May 27.
The organizations also urged an end to security persecution of political figures, dissidents, and human rights defenders,"which deliberately entangles them in malicious, retaliatory cases that often result in their imprisonment."
“Human rights organizations have previously warned of the Egyptian authorities’ illegitimate policy of ‘recycling’, which ensures that political dissidents remain in prolonged detention despite the expiry of their legally mandated detention periods or their completion of the maximum two-year period allowed by law for pretrial detention.” the statement said.
The signatories cited several other cases where political figures were slapped with new charges just as they were due to be released. Among them were human rights lawyer Hoda Abdelmonem; politician Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and his deputy Mohamed El-Kassas; and political activist Mohamed Adel. They also noted recent charges filed against publisher and writer Hisham Kassem, who was handed a new six-month prison sentence in absentia on May 14.
“Egyptian authorities exploit repressive laws as a false legal justification to retaliate against political opponents signals that political will towards human rights reform is nonexistent. Most notorious among these draconian legislation are the anti-terrorism law and the colonial era assembly law,” the organizations said.
They added that recent amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, passed by parliament, have effectively legitimized these abusive practices, signaling a lack of political will to improve Egypt's human rights record.
The statement was endorsed by a number of prominent groups including the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, El Nadeem Center, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, the Egyptian Human Rights Forum, Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, EgyptWide for Human Rights, Justice Committee, and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
