The student from the Vienna-based Central European University, who was arrested last year while visiting his home country in Egypt, was sentenced to three years in prison in Cairo on Monday. According to the human rights organization Amnesty International Austria, Ahmed Samir Santawy was found guilty of “spreading false news on social media”.
Santaway did research on women’s and abortion rights. The state security prosecutor had asked the detained Santaway for information about his research on Islam and abortion. Authorities allege membership in a terrorist group, spreading false news and using a social media account to spread false news. Santawy was first convicted in June 2021, which was overturned earlier this year. The Egyptian authorities twice postponed the retrial of the case. During this time, the student remained in custody. Amnesty and ÖH shocked by the verdictAmnesty was dismayed by the verdict and called for the man’s immediate release. “The whole process was a farce that dragged on for months. Today’s judgment puts a sad end to that,” said Annemarie Schlack, Managing Director of AI Austria. Santawy is a prisoner of conscience and is innocently detained. The Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH) spoke of a “shocking pronouncement of judgment”. The Rector of the Central European University (CEU), Shalini Randeria, called the judgment in a broadcast “a mockery of the law and justice”. “Ahmed Samir Santawy is a political prisoner. He was imprisoned for exercising his right to freedom of opinion and expression, both as a scientist and as an individual.
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