CAIRO - For the umpteenth time the nightmare that Patrick Zaki is living has been extended, after it has decided by the Cairo Tribunal that Zaki’s pre-trial detention will last a further 45 days. 

  This arbitrary extension, while he waits for a proper trial, means that he will spend his 30th birthday behind bars.

  Zaki, a student at the University of Bologna, was arrested in very controversial circumstances on February 7, 2020, for allegedly spreading “subversive propaganda on the internet.” He has been held, without trail, in in prison in Egypt since then. He had gone back to Egypt from Bologna to spend a holiday with his family.

  He has been accused by Egyptian authorities of spreading information damaging to the state, incitement to protest and dissemination of fake news, crimes punishable by up to five years in prison. 

  Amnesty Italia wrote on Twitter that “this umpteenth renewal [of his custody] leaves no space for doubt: his detention is judicial harassment.”

  His 16 months of detention so far have allegedly included interrogations, beatings and torture.

  Students at the University of Bologna have been planning a public show along the Portico di San Luca to raise awareness for 50 'prisoners of conscience' in 13 different countries. The show is set to open on June 16, Zaki's birthday.

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