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　　Summary

　　The Egyptian government has targeted independent business owners, subjecting them to arbitrary prosecution under the guise of combating terrorism, but in fact to control, harass, intimidate, and rob its citizens. One such victim is Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Thabet, whom the Egyptian government initially disappeared, and then held without charge or trial for nearly five years starting on September 25, 2019, bringing charges against him only on July 30th, 2024, August 10, 2024 and November 20, 2024. He remains imprisoned at Badr prison. Thabet, age 73, owns a business in the agricultural industry, and is married with four children. Thabet's case is part of a broader pattern of government crackdowns, in which Egyptian authorities unjustly imprison successful businessmen under fabricated charges of association with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, freezing and eventually seizing their assets.

　　There is no credible evidence that Thabet has committed any crime or has had any association with the Muslim Brotherhood. The government has banned the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, although it failed to provide any evidence of the organization's responsibility for political violence. Criminalizing membership in the organization as a terrorist crime also fails to meet basic international legal standards for protection of free speech and association, and is itself an abuse of rights. Thabet's arrest and subsequent persecution appear entirely politically motivated due to his status as a prominent Egyptian businessman, particularly at a time when the Egyptian government has extensively seized the assets of many successful businessmen.

　　Presented as evidence against Thabet in Egyptian police case records are books related to the history of the Muslim Brotherhood they confiscated without a warrant in Thabet's 500 volume library, and images from protests during the 2011 Arab Uprisings, which they obtained in his illegally searched personal phone. Prosecutors also claim that an inmate "admitted" during an interrogation that Thabet is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. This claim, coming after Thabet's detention, is not credible and includes no supporting evidence; Egyptian authorities have relied on such fabricated confessions from prisoners subject to duress. In all events, none of these materials are evidence of any wrongful conduct, and there is no legitimate basis for designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization or criminalizing membership in the organization as a terrorist offense. In addition, Thabet has consistently denied any membership in the organization.

　　Based on the First Attorney General of the Supreme State Security Prosecution's (SSSP) referral order to the court (page 20 to 22), the baseless charges under the Anti-Terror Law No. 94 of 2015 include: joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes and means; committing the crimes of financing terrorism by providing, collecting, possessing, and transferring funds and information to the terrorist group; and possessing printed materials and recordings that promote the aims of the terrorist group.

　　The arrest of Thabet appears connected to the Egyptian government's attacks against his brother, Safwan Thabet, and nephew, Seif Thabet, whom it also imprisoned on arbitrary charges, between December 2020 and January 2023.

　　Egyptian authorities have subjected Thabet to cruel and inhumane conditions. This includes reports of prison guards denying Thabet food,leading to his significant weight loss; medicine for existing medical conditions; and climate-appropriate clothing. Prison officials have also subjected Thabet to confinement in a crammed cell with 40 other detainees without regular access to restroom facilities, while denying Thabet's family with any information about his whereabouts for weeks on end.

　　Methodology

　　A DAWN researcher interviewed sources close to Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Thabet who had direct knowledge of his persecution and reviewed publicly available reports and information that we consider reliable, as detailed below. Interviews include the following:

　　Source A: A DAWN researcher remotely interviewed Source A on September 26, 2024, December 17, 2024, January 14, 2025, January 27, 2025 and February 4, 2025. DAWN researchers have been in close contact with this source for additional inquiries and support in fact-checking via online messaging platforms.

　　Source B: A DAWN researcher remotely interviewed Source B via online applications to authenticate trial and legal proceedings and other facts.

　　We do not disclose the identity of our sources to protect their security unless sources expressly provide for us to disclose their identity. We reference our unnamed source here as Source A and Source B.

　　Notes

　　This investigation provides only partial documentation of the legal proceedings against Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Thabet between 2019 and 2025. For almost five years, between September 25, 2019, when authorities first arrested him, and July 30, 2024, there was no documentation of any legal proceedings against Thabet, and Egyptian authorities illegally held him in pre-trial detention beyond the time period prescribed by the law. On August 10, 2024 and November 20, 2024, Egyptian prosecutors finally charged him with Case No. 1175 of 2018 and Case No. 205 of 2022, and he remains imprisoned under these charges awaiting trial. Source A provided case documents after Egyptian prosecutors took the case to court in 2024.

　　Personal and Professional Background

　　Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Thabet was born on July 2, 1951, in Cairo. As a successful businessman, Thabet served as the General Manager of Ebad Al-Rahman Import and Export Company. Thabet's ordeal began on September 25, 2019, when national security forces raided his home in the afternoon, confiscating his personal belongings and arresting him in front of his family, without presenting any warrant or documentation to justify their forceful actions.

　　Time and Circumstances of Arrest; Enforced Disappearance

　　Source A and Source B recall that at the time of security forces first arrest on September 25, 2019, Thabet was at home with his family. A van carrying five guards parked outside Thabet's home around two o'clock in the afternoon. Court documents state that police officer Sherif Ibrahim El-Sakka Saqr led the arrest after a "reliable secret source" of the Egyptian government provided authorities with Thabet's residence. These documents also falsely claim that the officers arrested Thabet and presented him with a judicial warrant on September 26th, 2019, a day after they actually arrested him; such forgery of arrest records is a common practice that has been documented in prior cases. According to eyewitness testimony, three guards entered the building and proceeded to Thabet's room, demanding Thabet follow them out the door. During this arbitrary arrest, guards confiscated a laptop, mobile devices, and books from Thabet's personal library without a warrant.

　　Upon arrest on September 25, 2019, Egyptian authorities took Thabet to a local detention center in Sixth of October (City), known as Amn el Dawla, overseen by the State Security Investigations Services (SSIS). Thabet reported to Source A that Egyptian authorities placed blindfolds over his eyes for the 48 hour duration of his detention at this local detention center.

　　After what Source A says was a two day period in the SSIS center, Egyptian authorities then transferred Thabet to a Central Security Forces camp on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, called Kilo 10.5 Prison. As Egyptian authorities did not provide Thabet, his lawyer, or his family with any official record or documentation of these detentions, the dates listed are approximations from the recollection of Source A.

　　Egyptian authorities held Thabet at Kilo 10.5 Prison for a period of three to four days, as Source A recalls. During this time, Thabet was able to contact Source A through a cell phone he obtained within the prison. Over the phone, Thabet reported his location at the time to Source A, while requesting food, medicine, and clothes since Egyptian authorities failed to provide these essential items to him. On the phone call to Source A, Thabet also recounted the names of other prisoners whose families may not have known their whereabouts, so that they could be provided with basic necessities. Immediately after this call, Source A went to Kilo 10.5 Prison with medicine, food, and climate-appropriate clothes for Thabet. However, Egyptian authorities claimed Thabet was not at the prison, banning Source A from providing these items and restricting the family from seeing Thabet.

　　Shortly after the phone call from Kilo 10.5 Prison, around October 1, 2019, an unknown Egyptian policeman came by Thabet's family home to request his passport or identification card, because Thabet's ID was lost. There, Source A pleaded with the officer to share Thabet's location. The officer then told Source A, unofficially, that Tha