Zaki released from prison “Now I want to go back to Italy”

Maris Zaki began posting on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon to express that she was “still waiting” for the release of her brother, Patrick Zaki, after the presidential pardon was announced, which canceled the three-year prison sentence imposed on the researcher at the University of Bologna. Yesterday for her, her parents and fiancé Rene was an emotional day, marked by mixed feelings: the shock of seeing the boy forcibly taken from the courtroom in Mansoura on Tuesday, immediately after the verdict was read, is still very fresh. Then, the next day, I was happy to pardon President Sisi, who did not provide details of when he would be released. Finally, yesterday, the wait outside the prison that started early in the morning. Finally, around 11 a.m. Italian time, the doors of the prison compound were opened in front of Zaki, and the anxiety of seeing the betrayal of his expectations faded into the many long hugs immortalized by the cameras of the reporters present: first with his mother, then moved on with Rene and Maris, and finally his father, George, who was caught by the cameras walking back and forth before the arrival of his son’s weight alone, as if he wanted to live in a state of uncertainty.

Yes, because we are in Egypt Nothing is to be taken for granted. Laws can be misinterpreted, circumvented and ignored, especially when it comes to crimes against state security. Human rights advocates in Arab countries have been denouncing this for some time, warning that reform of anti-terror laws and the introduction of emergency courts for state security by General Sisi’s government have tightened their grip on any dissenting voice. In this context, strong media attention cannot become a guarantee. On the other hand, the decisive optimism came from Premier Giorgia Meloni, who on Thursday evening published a video clip in which she thanked Sisi for the pardon, as well as the continuous work of intelligence and diplomats in the two countries, to announce Zaki’s imminent arrival in Italy. He said that the words that paved the way for speculation about negotiations between Rome and Cairo were quickly denied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tajani: “No negotiations under the table,” adding “no barter” with the Regeni case. The process of obtaining a visa to Italy has already begun, as a source within Farnesina confirmed to Dire: “At the airport, Zaki should have no surprises, the travel ban (activated in recent months while awaiting trial, ed.) has been lifted with an amnesty.”

Arrival in Italy So it is expected in the next few days. all’s well That ends well? Human rights organizations continue to report that “pardons and amnesties” are imagined concessions to those who commit a crime, while the only thing Zaki did was publish an article in which he criticized the lack of protection of a religious minority – the Copts to which he belongs – which the regime did not like. The call, then, is not to praise a government that prevents freedom of expression of thought. But for Claudio Francavilla of Human Rights Watch, there is more: Italy and the EU would also be willing to ignore Cairo’s abuse of other basic rights, this time at the expense of migrants and asylum seekers: Eritreans “illegally returning” and Sudanese fleeing war and not being welcomed. Human Rights Watch’s advocacy director for the European Union brings up Prime Minister Meloni’s summit next Sunday in Rome with leaders of the Middle East and North Africa to discuss migration. The expert denounced one way of replicating the migrant agreement “just signed with Tunisia, which the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, points to as a model for the region.” Hypothesis: Versus containing the departed turns a blind eye to transgressions. Is pardoning Zaki related to the summit as well? The researcher replies: “The presence of Sisi or his representative in the aftermath of the conviction would have been a source of embarrassment and above all protests.” Once again, political games are on the boy’s skin. who limited himself to talking about the future with reporters outside the prison: “I want to return to Italy as soon as possible.”

Dyer Agency