1. Personal information
a. Birth: The child Ibrahim Ahmed was born on 11 May 2003. He was arrested on 11 January 2020, at the age of 16, in connection with the “Joker” case.
b. Upbringing: He grew up on Ibn El-Garrah Street in the El-Arbaeen district of Suez Governorate. His family consists of his parents, his brother and his sister.
c. Occupation: Second-year student at an industrial secondary school.
d. Political activity/affiliation: He has no political activity or affiliation.
2. Previous arrests: He had not been arrested in any previous case.
3. Timeline since the arrest
a. Background of the arrest:
– 11 January 2020, arrest: The child Ibrahim was arrested at his home in the El-Arbaeen area of Suez, during a wide campaign launched by the Egyptian security forces after a video appeared showing 4 unidentified children wearing “Vendetta” masks and calling for protests on 25 January 2020. This followed the “September 2019 events”, which began alongside the calls for protest published by the contractor Mohamed Ali and by Tamer Gamal, known as “Atwa Kenana”.
– 23 February 2020, appearance before the Supreme State Security Prosecution: He appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution after an enforced disappearance that lasted 43 days. He was interrogated and then added to the case known in the media as the “Joker case”.
b. Background of the case:
Case No. 653 of 2021, Emergency State Security Felonies, First Settlement, registered as No. 195 of 2021 New Cairo Plenary, and as No. 1357 of 2019 Supreme State Security Inquiry, known in the media as the “Joker case”.
– The case began in October 2019 when a video appeared showing 4 unidentified children wearing Vendetta masks and calling for protests on 25 January 2020, following the calls for protest published in September 2019 by the contractor Mohamed Ali and by Tamer Gamal (Atwa Kenana).
– In November and December 2019 and January 2020, a security crackdown began with a wide campaign targeting some of the people who took part in these events, along with random arrests of residents of the area. Many people were arrested, among them men, women and children, over the video mentioned above. The child Ibrahim Ahmed is among the detained children referred to trial in the case, which includes 103 defendants, among them 28 children and one woman, Ms. Marwa Abd El-Ghani Abd El-Baqi.
– It should be noted that 17 children are still detained, 10 children have been released and one child is a fugitive. The only woman referred in the case is still detained.
c. Charges: The referral order included several charges against the child Ibrahim, defendant No. 87 in the case, including:
– Taking part in an assembly of more than five people that endangers public peace, with the aim of committing assaults on persons and influencing public officials in the performance of their duties through force and violence.
– Attempted murder.
– Using force and violence against public servants and persons assigned to a public service.
– Endangering the safety of public land transport and obstructing its movement with the intent of disturbing public order, and endangering the safety and security of society.
– Possession of firearms (2 homemade shotguns) and 5 rounds of ammunition for them.
d. Trial and sentences:
– 28 April 2021, referral to the Criminal Court: The First Attorney General of the State Security Prosecution, Chief Justice of Appeal Counselor Khaled Diaa, referred the defendants in the “Joker” case to the competent criminal court on charges of committing a number of terrorist crimes, chief among them taking part in the assembly of the September 2019 events in the El-Arbaeen area of Suez.
– 24 May 2021, first hearing scheduled: The President of the Court of Appeal, Counselor Tarek Abu Zeid, set the first hearing of the case for 26 June 2021 before the Fifth Terrorism Circuit (B).
– 26 June 2021, first trial hearing: The first hearings began before the Cairo Criminal Court, Fifth Terrorism Circuit (B), presided over by Judge Mohamed Saeed El-Sherbiny.
– 5 October 2022, case reserved for verdict: The Cairo Criminal Court, First Terrorism Circuit, presided over by Judge Mohamed Saeed El-Sherbiny, reserved the case for the verdict to be pronounced at the 15 January 2023 hearing.
4. Detention conditions
a. Places of detention: He was first held in an unknown location and remained in unlawful detention for 43 days until he was moved to Ataka Police Station in Suez.
b. Violations:
– Enforced disappearance for 43 days.
– Severe beating and insults during his arrest at home.
– Unlawful detention inside National Security premises.
– Being interrogated while blindfolded at the National Security headquarters in Suez.
– Falsification of the arrest report by the officer who wrote it. The authorities claimed he was arrested at home on 21 February 2020, while in fact he was arrested at home on 11 January 2020.
c. Living conditions at the police station: As a second-year student at an industrial secondary school, his detention blocked the continuation of his studies, since the police station refused to let him sit his exams. The team of lawyers representing him obtained a decision from the Public Prosecution allowing him to continue his studies and sit his exams at the Suez Security Directorate.