Several European countries released a joint statement on the British government’s website criticizing the ongoing detention of Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ibrahim Metwaly Hegazy, who is helping investigate the murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni.
In a statement, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain and Canada said they were “deeply concerned” at the detention of human rights lawyer Ibrahim Metwaly Hegazy.
“We are concerned at the detention conditions that Ibrahim Metwaly Hegazy is reportedly enduring, and continue to call for transparency on prison conditions in Egypt,” the statement read.
Metwaly was investigating the abduction and death of Regeni in Egypt. He was arrested in September from the airport while heading for his flight to Geneva to attend a UN conference on enforced disappearances on charges of establishing an illegal group and disseminating false news.
He founded the Association of the Families of the Disappeared after his son disappeared in suspicious circumstances four years ago.
Members of Metwaly’s association said he was taken from Cairo airport by airport security and he was not heard from until three days later when a state security prosecutor ordered his detention.
Before news of his arrest, Metwaly’s family released a statement describing Hegazy’s disappearance as an attempt by Egyptian authorities to silence those who are advocating on behalf of the forcibly disappeared in Egypt and to prevent communication with the international community
