The Egyptian Network for Civil Rights Expresses its concern about the referral of lawyer Ahmed Helmy for investigation and appeals to the Attorney General to save the investigation

The Egyptian Network for Civil Rights followed up with great concern what the human rights lawyer “Ahmed Helmy” wrote on his Facebook page, regarding his summoning for investigation based on a memorandum submitted against him by the State Security Prosecution on charges of insulting the judiciary. And he stated that this charge was made against him because of his presence and his legal defense in renewing the detention procedures of an accused person, as he had argued for shortcomings in the investigations of the Public Prosecution, which the State Security Prosecution considered as an insult to the judiciary.
Mr. Ahmed Helmy, the lawyer, added that his words he said was considered by the head of the renewal session as an insult to the prosecution and asked the representative of the prosecution to write a memorandum.
The Egyptian Network for Civil Rights expresses its deep concern about the incident, which is the first of its kind, where a lawyer is being held accountable for pleading and defending his client in violation of Article 198 of the Egyptian Constitution, which stipulates that “the lawyer is a free profession, and the judiciary participates in the investigation of Justice, the rule of law, and guaranteeing the right of defense, which is exercised by the lawyer independently, as well as lawyers for bodies and companies in the public sector and the public business sector .All lawyers, while performing the right of defense before the courts, enjoy the guarantees and protection that have been decided for them in the law, while it applies to them before the investigation and inference bodies. It is also banned to detain or arrest a lawyer while exercising his right of defense unless it is a state of flagrante delicto arrest or detention of a lawyer, all in the manner specified by law. The same applies to the text of Article 47 of the Advocacy Law, which states: “The lawyer may take the method he deems successful in accordance with the principles of the profession in defending his client, and he shall not be accountable for what he states in his oral pleadings or in his written memoranda, as required by the right of defense.
The network asserts that the right to defense is the most important pillar in fair and equitable trials, which international human rights covenants have given special attention, and many texts have been devoted to them. In general, the trial is not upright and is not characterized by justice except to the extent of its keenness to preserve the right to defense.
This was confirmed by our Supreme Constitutional Court in many principles, including what it stated that, guaranteeing the rights of the accused before the accusing authority should be guaranteed through procedures, foremost of which is the right to defense “Judgment No. 47 of 2019”.
Based on all of these and in addition to what the National Strategy for Human Rights indicated in its third item when it dealt with strengthening fair trial guarantees. The Egyptian Network for Civil Rights expresses its full solidarity with Mr. Ahmed Helmy, the lawyer.
In pursuance of the foregoing, the network calls on the attorney general to issue an order to preserve the investigation, in order to preserve constitutional and human rights principles.