Egypt: Free, Ramy Shaath is forced to give up his nationality

Figure of civil society and political activist for the rights of the Palestinians, the opponent arrived in Paris after spending two years in the Egyptian jails.

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Finally free after two and a half years of detention in Egypt, the Ramy Shaath militant let out his joy upon his arrival at Roissy airport, Saturday, January 8th. Alongside his French wife, Céline Lebrun-Shaath, who fought tirelessly for his release, this figure of the Egyptian progressive scene immediately denounced the “inhuman conditions” of the prisons of Cairo. He posted his determination to continue his political fight: “I have hope for a better Egypt, I hope for the prisoners to be released, I have hope for an independent Palestine and stable. “

His departure for France is the provisional epilogue of a case that had shocked in civil society in Egypt. Face known for its involvement in the 2011 revolution and its commitment to the Rights of Palestinians, Ramy Shaath, with the Double Palestinian and Egyptian nationality, was arrested at his home in Cairo on July 5, 2019. Ramallah’s efforts to do so. Liberate had failed, and Céline Lebrun-Shaath, a teacher, had been expelled to Paris. “The year 2019 was very difficult for Egyptian civil society: she suffered heavy retaliation from a regime that does not tolerate dissenting vote,” recalls, from Cairo Mohamed Lotfy, Director of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and freedoms.

A heavy cost

But the release of Mr. Shaath, 50 years old, son of Nabil Shaath, who has held important positions in the Palestinian Authority, has a heavy cost: he was forced to give up his Egyptian nationality – It was fallen in December 2021, according to a political source in Cairo. This imposed price is all the more bitter than ten years ago Ramy Shaath had fought to preserve his Egyptian citizenship, while the authorities were already trying to remove it, in order to weaken his political action. In addition, his name remains on the “list of terrorists” established by the Egyptian authorities; It was added by FIRST 2020, for a period of five years, a measure sentenced by UN experts.

After his arrest, Ramy Shaath had been accused of assisting a “terrorist group” and his name had been added to a case: at the end of June 2019, the state security had launched a net against opponents and activists, accusing them of preparing a plot against the state. His family, supported by human rights NGOs and French and European parliamentarians, has always denounced false accusations, arbitrariness of his detention and misappropriation of anti-terrorism laws to muzzle the opponents.

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/Media reports.