Patrick Zaki, free for a year and a half but with another five years in jail for the content of his 2019 article on an ISIS attack and two cases of alleged discrimination against Copts, the Christians of Egypt, delivered the thesis and asks for permission to return to discuss it in person in Bologna, where he is attending a university master's degree.
The young man, 32 years old, turns to the Egyptian authorities to grant him a temporary exemption from the travel ban linked to the trial he is undergoing in his homeland, where he was arrested in February 2020. And where, although he returned to freedom in December 2021 , remains hanging on to a legal case that never seems to end. The next hearing is set for July 18, after about ten postponements.
«I delivered the final copy of my thesis to the University of Bologna, four years after the beginning of that long and tiring journey. The University has informed me that the dates for the discussion will be from 4 to 7 July», explains the Egyptian researcher enrolled in the "Gemma" European master's degree in gender and women's studies. «Today - he informs - I will present a new request to the Egyptian Attorney General to ask for permission to travel to Italy to participate in the graduation sessions and ceremonies. I hope reason prevails .'
After his release, Zaki continued to attend remotely, taking exams and finally arriving at the final test, a job on media and gender studies. At his side as always Amnesty International : «We hope that faced with such an important deadline for his academic life, the Egyptian authorities can for once show humanity and grant Patrick an exemption from the travel ban that will allow him to discuss in the presence his thesis», the Italian spokesman Riccardo Noury told Ansa.
The university awaits him: «As I have said many times, we are impatient to have Patrick back among us: when he is allowed to return it will be a joy not only for the Alma Mater, but for the whole country - comments the rector Giovanni Molari - In any case, his degree is an important goal that Patrick has pursued with the generosity and tenacity that distinguish him, even in the difficult personal conditions that he continues to live. We will be with him for the moment of his proclamation, at which I will be personally present to express the support and admiration of the University", added the rector.
(Unioneonline/D)
