Mahienour El Massry, 2014 Ludovic Trarieux Prize recipient, is free

The UIA welcomes the release on September 21, 2014 of the Egyptian lawyer, Mahienour El Massry, recipient of the 2014 Ludovic Trarieux Prize for Human Rights. The Prize will be given to Mrs El Massry at the UIA Congress in Florence.

Mahienour El Massry had been sentenced to two years imprisonment for breaching the law on demonstrations while she was protesting along with other lawyers against the conditions in which the trial Khaled Saïd’s presume murderers had taken place. This young man who had died following his arrest at the end of 2010, became one of the symbols of the Egyptian revolution.

Ms El Massry’ sentence had been reduced to six months on appeal and, after 125 days of detention, the Alexandria Criminal Court had suspended the execution of the sentence while awaiting the outcome of the appeal before the Court of cassation.

Mahienour El Massry has also been indicted for “insulting government employees in the performance of their duties”, “insulting representatives of the authorities” and “attempting to break into a police station”. The events for which she is being indicted go back to March 2013, when Mahienour El Massry had gone to the El-Raml police station in Alexandria along with four other lawyers in order to defend demonstrators who had been arrested after clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi.

The UIA is delighted to welcome Ms Mahienour El Massry on October 31 at its 58th Congress in Florence.