Friday March 29th, 2024
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Authorities Raid the Office of Human Rights Group Aiding Giulio Regeni's Family

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms' Agouza office was raided by officials claiming to be with the Ministry of Investment.

Staff Writer

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) has been raided by government forces, the organisation’s Board of Trustees’ head Ahmed Abdullah told The Guardian.

The raid took place last Thursday at 10:30 AM at the organisation’s Agouza office. Abdullah says four officials who claimed to represent the Egyptian Ministry of Investment went in looking for ECRF’s Executive Director and prominent human rights defender Mohamed Lotfy, who wasn’t there at the time.

“They told our lawyer that they were from the Ministry of Investment, and have the right to search the room,” said Abdullah. “Our lawyer demanded to see a search warrant and ID for the four men – they refused.”

He added: “We believe that at least one was from the police, as when he handed his mobile phone to our lawyer, there was a picture of him dressed in police uniform.”

This comes after a slew of similar incidents where the government has cracked down on Egypt’s human rights community, including Abdullah, who faces charges of ‘inciting violence’, ‘terror connections’, and ‘conspiring to topple the regime’ since April.   

Lawyers affiliated with the organisation are currently providing legal counsel to the family of slain Italian student Giulio Regeni, the 28-year-old Cambridge University graduate whose body was found just outside Cairo exhibiting signs of brutal torture.

Many have alluded to the Egyptian government’s possible involvement in his murder, although the country’s authorities deny having a hand in Regeni’s death.

To this day, his killer hasn’t been identified and the family is still in a legal battle with Egyptian authorities to find out who murdered their son.