Voorbeeldbrieven mei 2023

   Egypte: stop de vervolging van Anas al-Beltagy  

Anas al-Beltagy zit al 9 jaar vast onder verschrikkelijke omstandigheden. Hij is de zoon van een belangrijke leider van de Moslimbroederschap, een in Egypte verboden oppositiepartij. Hij sliep maanden in een ijskoude cel op de betonnen vloer met dag en nacht felle lichten aan. Hij werd geslagen, krijgt onvoldoende eten en geen medische zorg. Hij mag al zes jaar lang geen enkel contact met zijn familie hebben.

Toen Anas al-Beltagy werd gearresteerd in 2013 was hij student. Hij is al tot vijf keer toe vrijgesproken van de aanklachten tegen hem. Iedere keer komt er een nieuwe onzinnige aanklacht waar hij zich tegen moet verdedigen. De autoriteiten houden zo vaker onschuldige activisten en politici eindeloos vast zonder veroordeling.

Schrijf naar de autoriteiten van Egypte. Roep hen op om Anas al-Beltagy onmiddellijk vrij te laten. Tot die tijd moet hij goed worden behandeld.

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President Abdelfattah al-Sisi                                          Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Office of the President                                                     H.E. Hatem Elsayed Mohamed Kamaleldin

Al Ittihadia Palace                                                             Badhuisweg 92

Cairo, Egypt                                                                        2587 CL Den Haag

Apeldoorn, May 2023.

Your Excellency,

Anas al-Beltagy, the son of detained prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagy, has been arbitrarily detained for over nine years solely because of his family affiliation. Despite courts acquitting him of all charges in four separate cases and a judge’s decision to provisionally release him in a fifth case, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered his detention pending investigations into a separate sixth case on similar spurious terrorism-related accusations.

Since his transfer to the Badr Prison Complex in November 2022, his detention renewal hearings have been held online, further violating his fair trial rights to meaningfully challenge the legality of his detention.

Anas al-Beltagy has been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including through prolonged solitary confinement and denial of healthcare. He has been banned from any visits, phone calls or written correspondence with his family and lawyers since 2017. Prison officials continue to ban his family from bringing him any food and medicine.

In light of the above, I urge you to ensure that Anas al-Beltagy is immediately and unconditionally released and all charges against him are dropped as they are brought solely because of his family links and his exercise of his human rights.

Yours sincerely,

 Algerije: geef Abderrahmane Zitout medische zorg

De Algerijn Abderrahmane Zitout zit al sinds 5 april 2022 vast voor verzonnen aanklachten. Hij is nu voor de derde keer in hongerstaking en daarmee in levensgevaar. Ook zit hij in een rolstoel omdat hij niet geholpen wordt aan ernstige rugklachten.

Zitout’s broer is medeoprichter van de politieke oppositiegroep Rachad die in Algerije bestempeld is als terroristische organisatie. Volgens de autoriteiten maakt Zitout zich schuldig aan meerdere misdrijven. Dit is echter ongegrond.  

Schrijf naar de autoriteiten van Algerije. Roep hen op om Abderrahmane Zitout onmiddellijk vrij te laten en hem medische hulp te bieden!

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President of the Republic of Algeria                           Embassy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Abdelmajid Tebboune                                                   H.E. Ms. Salima Abdelhak

Presidence de la republique                                         Van Stolklaan 1-3

Place Mohammed Seddik Benyahiya                          2585 JS Den Haag

El Mouradia

Alger 16000 Algerie

Apeldoorn, May 2023.

Your Excellency,

I am writing to raise concerns about the prolonged and arbitrary pre-trial detention of Abderrahmane Zitout in El Harrach prison, Algiers, since 5 April 2022. His health has seriously deteriorated since his imprisonment, and he was denied medical care until he was hospitalized after his second hunger strike in August 2022.

On 16 April 2022, a prosecutor at Sidi M’hamed First Instance Court charged Abderrahmane Zitout, among other charges, with “participating in a terrorist group”. So far, no date has been set for his hearing.

On 16 February, Zitout started a hunger strike to protest his detention of over ten months. Abderrahmane Zitout has been put in a wheelchair since being in prison due to his untreated back problems and herniated disk.

I urge you to immediately drop all baseless charges against Abderrahmane Zitout and release him immediately and unconditionally.

In the meantime, I urge you to grant him access to the hospital so that he can be treated for his ongoing health issues.

Yours sincerely,

 Saudi-Arabië: laat Salma al-Shehab onmiddellijk vrij

Nadat de Saudische student en moeder Salma al-Shehab Twitterberichten over vrouwenrechten deelde, werd ze op 1 januari 2021 gearresteerd. Ze zat maar liefst 285 dagen in eenzame opsluiting en werd verhoord zonder advocaat. Nu is ze veroordeeld tot 27 jaar cel plus een reisverbod van nog eens 27 jaar als ze weer vrijkomt. Uit protest is ze sinds 23 maart 2023 in hongerstaking.

Al-Shehab kreeg de absurd lange straf nadat ze veroordeeld werd voor terrorisme. Met haar tweets zou Al-Shehab ‘de openbare orde verstoren en de samenleving ontwrichten’. In Saudi-Arabië zitten tientallen vreedzame activisten, journalisten en dichters vast na valse aanklachten van ‘terrorisme’ vanwege het delen van hun mening op sociale media.    

Schrijf naar de autoriteiten van Saudi-Arabië. Roep hen op om Salma al-Shehab onmiddellijk vrij te laten!

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Stuur uw brief naar:                      of                                                        een  kopie van de brief naar:            

Waleed Mohammed Al Smani                                                                 H.E. Mr. Ziad M. D. Al Atiyah

Minister of Justice                                                                                      Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia                                                                                  Koninginnegracht 26

Postal Code 11472                                                                                      2514 AB Den Haag

P.O. Box 7775

Apeldoorn, May 2023.

Your Excellency,

I am alarmed to learn that the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh resentenced Salma al-Shehab, an academic and mother of two, to 27 years in prison followed by a 27-year travel ban on 25 January, after the Supreme Court returned her case to the SCC’s appeals chamber to look into it again.

The SCC convicted Salma of terrorism. Their charges arose from the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression through tweets she published on her account in support of women’s rights. She has been on a hunger strike since 23 March in protest against her arbitrary detention and unfair trial.

I urge you to order the immediate and unconditional release of Salma al-Shehab and the quashing of her conviction and sentence as she is being held solely for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression.

I also call on you to stop equating the exercise of freedom of expression with “terrorism”, and to repeal or substantially amend the counter-terrorism and anti-cybercrime laws which criminalize peaceful dissent, and enact new laws that are fully compatible with international human rights standards.

Yours sincerely,