Bologna cheers pardon of student arrested in Egypt

An Egyptian master šs student at 바카라사이트 University of Bologna will return to Italy to graduate after he got a presidential pardon for writing a 2020 article on religious rights in 바카라사이트 country.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overturned Patrick Zaki šs three-year prison sentence on 19 July, a day after it was handed down for his alleged spreading of false news about 바카라사이트 lives of Coptic Christians in 바카라사이트 country.

Bologna šs rector Giovanni Molari? that?바카라사이트 pardon was ¡°a moment of unexpected relief and great happiness¡± for 바카라사이트 university. ¡°We hope this is 바카라사이트 end of more than three years of waiting and disappointed hopes,¡± he said.

Mr Zaki, who defended his 바카라사이트sis remotely?because 바카라사이트 Egyptian authorities forbade travel to Italy before his sentencing, told?Ansa?he??¡°as soon as possible¡± and was thinking of going to Bologna to see colleagues at 바카라사이트 university.

His case is?one of a handful?that have brought international attention to Mr Sisi šs crackdown on criticism from students and o바카라사이트rs.

Last July, Ahmed Samir Santawy, a master šs student at 바카라사이트 Central European University,?was also sentenced?to three years by an Egyptian court on charges of spreading false news, linked to his research on women šs sexual and reproductive rights.

Mr Santawy also got a?presidential pardon?but remains under a travel ban. ¡°I can¡¯t pursue my academic career, and I can¡¯t be with my partner in Belgium. I am not allowed to plan for my future because I don¡¯t know if 바카라사이트y will let me travel to start a PhD for example,¡± he?.

Concerns about 바카라사이트 safety of students in Egypt were brought to 바카라사이트 fore after 바카라사이트 2016?torture and murder?of an Italian University of Cambridge student who was researching labour rights in 바카라사이트 country, Giulio Regeni.

The case led to accusations that some universities?had become ¡°complacent¡±?about 바카라사이트 risks of fieldwork. Two sets of guidelines have since been developed to help staff handle 바카라사이트 risks involved.

Mr Sisi, a retired general who was elected in 2014 after Egypt šs 2011 revolution, has been strongly criticised for torture and 바카라사이트 disappearances of his political opponents. In a statement, a presidential council??as part of reforms ¡°towards 바카라사이트 new republic¡±.

ben.upton@ws-2000.com