Egypt releases political detainees: Did opposition reclaim leverage through National Dialogue?

Egypt has pardoned human rights activists Patrick Zaki and Mohamed Baker after a group of members of the National Dialogue suspended their participation in protest of a three-year-imprisonment sentence against Zaki for writing an article talking about the situation of the Coptic Christians in the country, but does this imply that the opposition has restored it leverage?

Egypt’s National Dialogue, the only platform that was allowed by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to speak somewhat freely on politics, submitted a request to Sisi asking for the release of Zaki, National Dialogue General Coordinator Diaa Rashwan announced following the withdrawal of members from the National Dialogue.

Lawyers and human rights activists Negad El-Borai, Ahmed Ragheb, and Amr Imam, as well as journalist Khaled Daoud, announced the suspension of their participation in the National Dialogue after human rights activist Patrick Zaki was sentenced on Monday, July 17, to three years in prison for writing an opinion article about the situation of Coptic Christians in Egypt in 2020.

Lawyer Negad El-Borai, a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Dialogue, said on his Twitter account, “Patrick Zaki was sentenced to imprisonment on charges of publishing false news from the Emergency State Security Court; this made my presence in the National Dialogue Board of Trustees useless. I accepted membership as a volunteer in my attempt to bridge the gap between the human rights movement and the state and its institutions, but I did not succeed. I apologize for the failure and step down from public work completely.”

Journalist Khaled Dawood, the assistant rapporteur of the Political Parties Committee in the National Dialogue and head of the Dostour Party, also suspended his participation in the National Dialogue, saying on his Facebook account, “I announce the freezing of participation in the National Dialogue because we cannot claim that we are in a state of dialogue in light of the issuance of such rulings and the failure to implement the many promises we received to release a number of prisoners whose freedom we have been demanding for years, including Alaa Abdel Fattah, Mohamed Al-Baqer, Muhammad Oxygen and Ahmed Duma.”

“The seriousness of the dialogue cannot be trusted with the continued imprisonment of opponents,” he added.

Also, lawyer Nabeh Elganadi, a member of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), said on his Facebook page on Monday evening, “I am announcing the suspension of my participation in the National Dialogue after issuing a ruling by an exceptional court against my friend and colleague Patrick George, the researcher at the Egyptian Initiative, and imprisoning him for three years. It is not possible to continue the National Dialogue under these rulings against human rights activists and peaceful dissidents, and there is absolutely no point in participating.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Ahmed Ragheb wrote on his Facebook account, “The ruling issued today (July 18, 2023) by the Emergency State Security Court against Patrick George […] is a message that our attempt to participate in the National Dialogue failed, so I apologized for continuing.”

The release of Zaki and Baker came due to two factors; the first one is the leverage of the withdrawal from the National Dialogue by some members like human rights defenders, while the second factor is the prevention of escalating citizens’ anger, which was caused by the socio-economic crisis in the country, Mahmoud Bakr, a member of the high authority of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and member of the National Dialogue, told Jusoor Post.

“Although the leverage of membership withdrawal was effective, I am of the belief that participation in the National Dialogue should be continued, because what the National Dialogue did in only two months is much higher than what the parliament with its two houses did over several years,” he said.

More than 940 out of 1,200 political detainees were pardoned in only one year as members of the National Dialogue helped in a political and diplomatic way to release a large number of detainees, in cooperation with the Presidential Pardon Committee, he revealed.

In reply to a question on whether granting pardons removes the names of pardoned prisoners from the travel watch list, Bakr said that it does and that Zaki can therefore travel abroad to complete his postgraduate studies.

According to Bakr, the security forces viewed that not releasing Zaki would increase pressure on citizens, who are already suffering from inflation, the unstable currency, and some construction projects that do not benefit most people. 

The release of Zaki was a gesture for not provoking the people, especially ahead of a long official vacation on the occasion of the new Hijri year and the anniversary of the 1952 revolution, Bakr said, noting that more detainees could be released as reconciliation with the people, who are suffering from inflation. 

Egypt’s National Dialogue consists of a number of politicians representing different political parties, including the opposition, members of civil society, and economic and social experts in various fields. It started its session in May 2022, one year after Sisi called for it.