Australian citizen Hazem Hamouda due for release in Egypt has been disappeared, Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer Robinson act for the family

After over a year of arbitrary detention in Egypt, Hazem Hamouda, a dual Australian-Egyptian citizen, was due to be released this week. In concerning developments, Mr Hamouda was not brought to the appointed police station for release and he has since disappeared, with no further information being provided to his local counsel and his family. Mr Hamouda’s family and international counsel have grave concerns for his safety and security.

Mr Hamouda was arrested on 25 January 2018 at Cairo airport after arriving on a visit from Australia and wrongfully accused of sympathising with a terrorist group and spreading fake news for alleged Facebook posts. His family have been campaigning for a year for his release (#BringHazemHome).

Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer Robinson had been consulted by Mr Hamouda’s family in recent weeks about filing international complaints about his ongoing arbitrary detention. The Prosecutor-General of Egypt then ordered his release earlier this week. Upon learning of Mr Hamouda’s disappearance, urgent appeals were filed with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) and Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) calling for information about Mr Hamouda’s whereabouts and for his immediate release.

Ms Gallagher QC and Ms Robinson said:

“Mr Hamouda has already been unjustly and arbitrarily detained for over a year. There is no lawful basis for his continued detention. His disappearance raises grave concerns for his safety and security. We call upon Egypt to provide information about his whereabouts and to ensure his immediate release.”

Lamisse Hamouda, his daughter, said:

"We were so excited when the Department of Foreign Affairs contacted us to tell us dad would be released with all charges dropped. So when dad wasn't at the police station and no-one knew where he was, we were beyond crushed. To think he has been disappeared after believing he was going to come home is a nightmare inside the nightmare we've already lived for the past year. However, we deeply appreciate the continued efforts the Australian government and the Australian Embassy in Cairo in supporting us in our efforts to find answers in this harrowing situation."

Peter Greste, a well-known Australian journalist who was imprisoned in Egypt, has also expressed his concern about Mr Hamouda’s case:

“I am incredibly worried by the news that Hazem Hamouda has vanished after his charges were apparently dropped and he was due for release. After more than a year in prison with no obvious evidence of wrong-doing, Hazem’s detention was a travesty of justice from the outset. This latest development is not only an additional torment for the family and undoubtedly for Hazem himself, but it also confirms what we have always believed – that these kinds of actions by individuals within Egypt’s judicial system seem to be untethered from any common understanding of justice, and so the judiciary and its work cannot be treated with respect.

“Hazem’s torment of imprisonment without evidence, without trial and without due process has continued far longer than any respectable justice system should allow. I well understand what Hazem and his family are going through and I call on the Interior Ministry to correct this injustice and release Hazem immediately. I also urge Australia’s foreign minister Marise Payne to do all she can to find the Australian national and have him returned to his family in Brisbane.”