Patrick
George Zaki

Update, 13 May 2026: Zaki was sentenced to three years in prison on 18 July 2023, granted a presidential pardon the following day, and released on 20 July 2023. His travel ban was lifted, and on 23 July 2023 he flew to Italy and returned to the University of Bologna.

Background and Work

Patrick George Zaki is a researcher and human rights defender from Egypt. He worked with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), one of Egypt's leading independent human rights organizations. His research focused on gender rights, the rights of women, and the situation of marginalized communities including the LGBTQ+ population and Coptic Christians. He also documented violations of civil and political rights and worked on campaigns related to detention conditions and the treatment of political prisoners.

He belongs to Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, a community that has faced periodic violence and systematic discrimination. In July 2019 he published an article on the Daraj news platform titled "Displacement, Killing and Restriction: A Week's Diaries of Egypt's Copts," analyzing incidents of sectarian violence and restrictions faced by Copts. At the time of his arrest he was pursuing postgraduate studies in gender and women's studies at the University of Bologna in Italy.

The Arrest

On 7 February 2020 Patrick George Zaki arrived at Cairo International Airport for a short family visit. National Security Agency officers detained him immediately upon arrival. He was taken to an undisclosed location and interrogated for several hours without access to a lawyer. He later reported that during this interrogation he was subjected to physical beatings and electric shocks.

On 8 February 2020 the Public Prosecutor of Mansoura ordered his detention on remand for fifteen days. The detention was renewed repeatedly over the following months. He remained in pretrial detention for more than twenty months, during which his legal team faced obstacles in accessing case files and his family reported difficulties in securing regular visits.

Detention Conditions and Health

Patrick George Zaki was held in Tora Maximum Security 2 Prison in Cairo. Conditions in the facility have been documented by multiple organizations as failing to meet international standards. Prolonged pretrial detention without trial became a defining feature of his case, as the authorities continued to renew detention orders while the investigation remained open.

His family and legal representatives raised concerns about his physical and psychological well-being during the prolonged detention. Access to legal counsel was inconsistent, and the lack of clear trial dates compounded the uncertainty facing him and his family.

Legal Proceedings

On 14 September 2021 Patrick George Zaki's trial commenced before the State Security Misdemeanours Emergency Court in Mansoura. The charge against him was "publishing false news inside and outside Egypt." The basis for the charge was his July 2019 article on the situation of Coptic Christians. The State Security Emergency Court operates as an exceptional tribunal established under Egypt's longstanding state of emergency. Its verdicts are final and cannot be appealed.

On 8 December 2021 he was released from detention pending the continuation of his trial. The trial was scheduled to resume in February 2022. For more than a year and a half he remained free while the proceedings continued intermittently.

On 18 July 2023 the court convicted him and sentenced him to three years in prison. He was arrested inside the courtroom immediately following the verdict. The charge of disseminating false news has been used systematically by Egyptian prosecutors against journalists, researchers, and human rights defenders who publish critical analysis of the country's rights record.

Presidential Pardon and Release

On 19 July 2023, one day after the conviction, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a presidential pardon covering Patrick George Zaki and five other individuals. He was released on 20 July 2023. The pardon did not annul the conviction or clear his record; it commuted the sentence.

The pardon came amid sustained international attention to his case. Universities, human rights organizations, and European institutions had called for his release throughout the proceedings. His case became emblematic of the broader crackdown on independent civil society and freedom of expression in Egypt, where emergency courts, prolonged pretrial detention, and charges of spreading false news have been used to silence critics and rights defenders.