The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawqi to exercise his authority and immediately investigate the fate of Abdullah Ramadan, who remains held without legal basis despite a final judicial decision ordering his release on August 9, pending Case No. 12225 of 2024 (Zagazig Misdemeanors).

Ramadan was held in Port Said for ten days before being transferred to Zagazig Police Station—his local jurisdiction—to process his release. He was detained there until August 26, when EIPR’s attorney unexpectedly learned that he had been moved to an undisclosed location.

This is not the first time the Interior Ministry has disregarded the Criminal Procedure and Penal codes by refusing to enforce an order to release Ramadan, who has spent over a third of his life behind bars. Now 30 years old, he has spent more than 11 years in various prisons.

Ramadan was first arrested in 2015 on charges of illegal assembly under Law No. 10 of 1914, a colonial-era statute issued during the British occupation of Egypt. A military court sentenced him to two years in prison with hard labor. After serving that sentence, he served a second three-year term for allegedly possessing promotional materials—an implausible charge to level against someone already held in the custody of the Interior Ministry.

Despite completing both prison terms, Ramadan was not released. Instead, he was implicated in a third case brought by the Supreme State Security Prosecution, spending two years in pretrial detention. He was subsequently investigated in a fourth case, in which a consultation chamber judge ordered his release on February 26, 2024. However, he was quickly "rotated” into a fifth case on charges of “joining a terrorist group,” without being confronted with any evidence or witnesses. The court ordered his release pending this fifth case on August 9, 2026.

EIPR reiterates its demand to Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik to intervene immediately to ensure that the court order to release Ramadan is genuinely enforced, rather than rendered merely symbolic.

EIPR stresses that Ramadan remains in the custody of the Interior Ministry. He has been denied contact with his family and legal counsel, and neither he nor his lawyers have been informed of any additional pending cases against him. Consequently, he must be released immediately without delay so that he can comply with the judicial order subjecting him to precautionary measures.

Furthermore, EIPR urges the Public Prosecutor and his deputies to rigorously examine any new investigation or arrest reports involving Ramadan, warning against hitting him with new charges while he remains unlawfully detained pending the execution of his release order.