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Leading Egyptian rights activist freed on bail

By AFP
January 20, 2025
Alaa Abdel Fattah (right), one of the activists who was summoned by the public prosecutor on whether he had a role in the recent violent anti-Islamists protests, arrives with his wife and child to the public prosecutors office in Cairo, March 26, 2013. — Reuters
Alaa Abdel Fattah (right), one of the activists who was summoned by the public prosecutor on whether he had a role in the recent violent anti-Islamists protests, arrives with his wife and child to the public prosecutor's office in Cairo, March 26, 2013. — Reuters

CAIRO: Egyptian human rights activist Hossam Bahgat was released on bail on Sunday after being charged with “joining and financing a terrorist group” and publishing “fake news and data”, a rights group said.

The charges were part of a new case against Bahgat, who was released on bail of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about $400), the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which he founded, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, EIPR said prosecutors had summoned Bahgat, who is also the group´s executive director, but “the summons did not specify the details of the case or the charges involved” at the time.

Mahmoud Shalaby of Amnesty International said Bahgat had “faced years of relentless harassment at the hands of the Egyptian authorities in connection with his legitimate human rights work”.