Personal information:

a. Birth: Ms. Sanaa was born on 20 December 1993. She was arrested at the ages of 20, 22 and 27.

b. Upbringing: Ms. Sanaa was born and raised in a district of Giza Governorate and holds a bachelor’s degree in languages and translation from 6th of October University. She grew up in a family known for its political activism since the 1970s. Her father was the well-known human rights lawyer and leftist activist Ahmed Seif El-Islam, who had a long record of opposing repressive and corrupt regimes and was imprisoned for it under Sadat, under Mubarak and during the 25 January 2011 revolution. Her mother, Dr. Laila Soueif, is a well-known human rights activist and professor of mathematics at the Faculty of Science, Cairo University. Dr. Laila is one of the most prominent advocates for university independence; she founded the 9 March movement with a number of colleagues to pursue that demand. Her older brother is the detained political activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, one of the most important symbols of the January 2011 revolution that toppled the Mubarak regime, and her sister Mona Seif is a prominent human rights activist and genetics researcher.

c. Occupation: Ms. Sanaa works as a filmmaker. She has worked on the production and editing teams of many films, such as:
– “The Square” (2013), assistant editor
– “In the Last Days of the City” (2016), assistant editor
– “Bashtery Tebosny” (Dont Kiss Me) (2017), assistant editor
– “Anha” (About Her) (2020), assistant editor and assistant producer
– “Banat Abdel Rahman” (Abdel Rahman’s Daughters) (2020), assistant editor

d. Political activity/affiliation: Human rights and political activist. She has not belonged to any political party or group.

e. In the spotlight: Ms. Sanaa gained local recognition from the start of her political activism in 2011. She took part in the protests leading up to the Egyptian revolution; her first protest was a gathering for Khaled Said. Since then, at 17, Sanaa became involved in political activism, and her profile grew especially after she took part in the 25 January protests and sit-in in Tahrir Square, until she was called “the spirit of the Egyptian revolution”, which led artist Ammar Abo Bakr to paint a mural of her in Rome, Italy.

f. Additional information: After the 25 January revolution, Ms. Sanaa founded an independent newspaper, “El-Gornal”, with a group of friends. The paper covered many issues related to the Arab Spring and quickly became widely known, with each edition reaching more than 30,000 copies. Since taking part in the January revolution, Ms. Sanaa has been engaged with protest movements and human rights in Egypt. She was arrested and stopped several times because of her activism, in June 2014, April 2016 and June 2020, which brought her international recognition.

History of Sanaa Seif’s arrests:
Ms. Sanaa has been arrested several times under President El-Sisi:
a. 2014: Her first arrest came at the age of 20, on 21 June 2014, when she took part in a protest organized by the “Deddak” (Against You) movement near Ittihadiya Palace to denounce the Protest Law and demand its repeal, and to call for the release of those held in pretrial detention or sentenced under this law, especially those arrested in the Shura Council events, most notably her brother, human rights activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah. Instead of responding to their demands or even letting the protest pass peacefully, the protesters were attacked and Ms. Sanaa was arrested together with 23 other protesters, most notably the internationally honored human rights activist Yara Sallam.

– Charges: Ms. Sanaa and her companions in Case No. 8429 of 2014 Heliopolis Misdemeanors, registered as No. 17178 East Cairo Appeals, known in the media as the “Ittihadiya Palace” or “Ittihadiya detainees” case, were charged with violating the Protest Law, damaging public and private property, rioting, possessing weapons, explosives and incendiary materials, resisting the authorities and assaulting the security forces.

– Verdict: On 26 October 2014, the Heliopolis Misdemeanor Court, sitting at the Police Institute, sentenced Ms. Sanaa and her companions to 3 years in prison and a fine of EGP 10,000 each, ordered them to pay for the damages, and placed them under surveillance for 3 years after serving their sentence. In December of the same year, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to two years in prison and two years of surveillance. On 23 September 2015, just before President El-Sisi left for New York to attend the UN General Assembly, a presidential pardon was issued covering 100 defendants in political cases of various and controversial motives, such as the Shura Council and Ittihadiya Palace cases, and Ms. Sanaa and her companions were released from prison.

b. 2016: In April 2016, the Public Prosecutor summoned Ms. Sanaa for questioning on suspicion of inciting the protests against President El-Sisi known as the “Tiran and Sanafir” protests, under the slogan “Egypt is not for sale”, in objection to the sale of the two islands to Saudi Arabia. At the time, Ms. Sanaa did not comply with the summons and refused to take part in the investigation, which the prosecution considered an insult to the judicial system.
– Charges: Ms. Sanaa was charged in Case No. 4317 of 2016 Sayeda Zeinab Misdemeanors with verbally insulting a public servant during and because of the performance of his duties.
– Verdict: She was sentenced in absentia in May of the same year to six months in prison with labor, to be served immediately. Ms. Sanaa went to Sayeda Zeinab Police Station and asked for the sentence to be carried out. The prosecution then released her with her place of residence as guarantee. She later waived her right to challenge the verdict by opposition or appeal, according to her lawyer Khaled Ali, saying: “Simply put, I no longer have the energy to deal with their procedures.” The sentence was carried out from 14 May 2016 until 14 November of the same year.

The latest arrest and its details:
a. Background of the arrest: On 21 June 2020, Ms. Sanaa, her mother and her sister were standing outside Tora Prison waiting for a letter from her brother, detained political activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, to make sure he was well, especially since visits had been banned for more than three months as one of the precautionary measures against the spread of coronavirus in prisons. These measures appear to have been nothing more than a pretext for the regime to tighten its grip on prisoners and their families: the visit bans were extended in most prisons for more than a year, and visits were then limited for more than two years to “wire” visits (through a mesh barrier) of 10 minutes, with only one family member allowed in. This was kept in place for a long time in some prisons.
The family knew that he and his fellow prisoners had been subjected to many violations at the hands of an investigations officer at Tora Maximum Security Prison 2, but the prison administration was obstructive and refused to bring out their brother’s letters. Ms. Sanaa, her mother and her sister announced a sit-in outside the prison gate until they could be reassured about their brother Alaa Abd El-Fattah. On 22 June 2020, the day after they announced the sit-in, a group of women thugs attacked them, beat them, stole their belongings and tried to drag them along the ground, in full view of the prison administration and the forces assigned to secure it. Ms. Sanaa suffered serious physical injuries, which her sister Ms. Mona documented.
On 23 June 2020, the next day, Ms. Sanaa and her sister Ms. Mona went to report the assault on them and their mother, and especially on Ms. Sanaa, to file the necessary reports and to request documentation of Ms. Sanaa’s physical injuries: bruises, abrasions and wounds. But instead of being allowed to exercise their legal rights, Ms. Sanaa was abducted by National Security forces from outside the office of Public Prosecutor Counselor Hamada El-Sawy, in full view of everyone and with the knowledge of the Public Prosecutor, who did nothing to protect the rights of Ms. Sanaa and her family as Egyptian citizens under his protection.

b. Background of the case: On the evening of her abduction by State Security investigations, Ms. Sanaa was brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution and added to Case No. 659 of 2020 Supreme State Security Inquiry.

c. Charges:
– Broadcasting false news and rumors.
– Insulting a law enforcement officer.
– Insulting a public servant.
– Using social media to commit a crime.
It should be noted that the officer concerned in these charges, who filed the complaint of insult, is Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed El-Nashar. In an official complaint, Ms. Mona Seif accused him of full responsibility for the assault they suffered outside the prison, saying he supervised it, and that the two police officers he relied on as witnesses to the alleged insult, Mr. Ahmed El-Sayed Ghareeb and Mr. Hesham Abdel Hay Youssef, took a direct part in the assault, as one of them pushed Dr. Laila Soueif towards the women thugs while she was sheltering from them behind a police barrier.

d. Places of detention: Ms. Sanaa served all three of her sentences in Al-Qanater Women’s Prison.

e. Trial: The verdict session for Ms. Sanaa was held at the South Cairo Criminal Court, sitting at the New Cairo court complex, Tenth Circuit, presided over by Counselor Madbouly Kassab.

f. Violations:
Sanaa was subjected to many violations, most notably:
– Being beaten, dragged along the ground and robbed by “thugs” outside the prison.
– Being prevented from exercising her legal rights and filing complaints.
– Deliberate medical neglect: she showed symptoms suggestive of coronavirus several times in detention, and the authorities refused to test her to confirm whether she was infected.
– Being banned from visits for more than three months during the coronavirus period.

g. Verdict: On 17 March 2021, the Tenth South Cairo Criminal Circuit sentenced Ms. Sanaa in person to a year and a half in prison with labor, to be served immediately, and ordered her to pay the criminal court costs.
Sanaa served the year and a half in Al-Qanater Women’s Prison and was released on 23 December 2021 after serving her full sentence.

h. Living conditions in prison: Ms. Sanaa suffered harsh and arbitrary detention conditions. She was kept in the reception ward throughout her latest detention. The reception ward is constantly overcrowded, which led to her showing symptoms suggestive of coronavirus several times, since she was kept in the place that receives new prisoners from police stations and other prisons.

In addition, her visits only took place in the presence of a National Security officer, who sat with her and her family, and the visits were recorded. The prison administration and the National Security officer were also obstructive in deciding what was and was not allowed during visits and in her living arrangements inside the prison.
Despite the constant restrictions on her, this did not stop her from helping the other prisoners around her and lending them a hand, so that her name became associated, in the minds of her fellow prisoners (both prisoners of conscience and criminal prisoners) and their families, with strength and humanity.

Follow-up
a. Work and activity: Ms. Sanaa continues her political and human rights work, calling for the release of her brother, detained political activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who announced a full hunger strike in late March 2022.
b. Place of residence: Ms. Sanaa divides her time between London and Cairo.
c. Personal life: She, her sister Mona Seif and her detained brother Alaa Abd El-Fattah obtained British citizenship in April 2022 through their mother, Dr. Laila Soueif, who was born in London.