Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said an Egyptian court has issued a three-year prison sentence for Patrick Zaki, a human rights researcher, was charged with spreading false news,.
During his visit to Egypt in February 2020, Patrick Zaki, who was then a graduate student at the University of Bologna in Italy, was arrested. He was charged with spreading false information based on an article he had written concerning the challenges faced by Egypt’s Christian community.
Following 22 months of pre-trial detention, Patrick Zaki was released on bail, awaiting the conclusion of his trial at a state security court in his hometown of Mansoura.
“He has been arrested now and is being transferred to jail,” EIPR head Hossam Bahgat told media after the sentence was announced on Tuesday.