In the last quarter of 2024, Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution referred no less than 90 cases to terrorism courts. Defendants in these cases – including political opponents, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders – have been arbitrarily held in pretrial detention for long periods, in some cases for more than six years. Egyptian civil society organizations condemn the recent referrals as the latest iteration of the Prosecution’s sustained violations of due process and detainee rights. The gravity of the ongoing and escalating violations committed by the Supreme State Security Prosecution is compounded by the expansion of its jurisdiction over a wide range of political cases. Rather than serving citizens as an arbiter of justice, the Prosecution has increasingly become a weapon to retaliate against political dissidents. Egyptian civil society demands the release of all detainees who have exceeded their legal detention periods.

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