Egyptian Court Orders Activist Amal Fathy’s Release

An Egyptian court ordered the release of activist Amal Fathy who was in jail since May for criticizing the Egyptian authorities’ inaction on sexual harassment.

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Fathy was released on “probation” Tuesday, said attorney Mohammad Ramadan. This means she has to report to the police station at certain times. Her next hearing is scheduled to take place on Dec. 26.

"Today's court decision to order the conditional release of Amal Fathi, who has unjustly spent the past seven months behind bars, offers a glimmer of hope that her agonising ordeal in prison will come to an end soon," Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa said in a statement.

"The Egyptian authorities must now comply with the court's decision and ensure she is immediately released and reunited with her family," said Bounaim, adding, "releasing her on probation is not enough".

In early May, Fathy posted a video on Facebook recounting her harassment by a cab driver and a bank advisor and criticized the government for its lack of interest in ensuring the safety of women in Egypt.

"We were better off 70 years ago," she said in the video, adding that "women used to walk around in miniskirts and if someone was to even look at her, she could just call an officer and they would take him to court. It's infuriating — those that blame the way that women dress. Women dressed the same way 70 years ago. This didn’t happen then."

Fathy was charged with "disseminating a video on social media to publicly incite overthrowing the government, publishing a video that includes false news that could harm public peace, and misusing telecommunication tools."

In September, Fathy was sentenced to two years in prison fined US$562 for spreading “fake news” and “possessing indecent material.”

A United Nations survey in 2013 revealed that 99.9 percent of women in Egypt reported that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment in their lifetime. A 2017 Thomson Reuters poll described Cairo as the most dangerous megacity for women in the world.

In contrast to these data, Maya Morsi, the president of the national council for women has claimed that only 9.6 percent of women in Egypt have faced sexual assault.

Fathy was also accused of being a member of a “terrorist” group. She is a part of the now banned April 6 youth movement which played a crucial role in the 2011 Tahrir Square protests that forced long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak out of office.