The sixth hearing in the trial of Patrick Zaki , the student of the University of Bologna who, although on the loose, risks five years in prison on charges of spreading false news to the detriment is held today in Mansura , Egypt. of your country.
The chief lawyer of the 31-year-old researcher, Hoda Nasrallah, did not make any predictions on the contents and possible outcomes of the hearing. Judicial sources foresee a new update , which could take up to another two months , but remember that the one against Patrick is a "political trial" and therefore the single judge, surprisingly, could pronounce a sentence.
If his lawyers finish the defense, the trial will be postponed in order to issue a sentence, predicted another judicial source.
After the previous hearing, that of April 5, Nasrallah had announced that the lawyers would await a ruling by the Constitutional Court on a case similar to that of the human and civil rights activist that could invalidate his trial, making Patrick totally free. . However, the times seem long: July 31 is the date of a possible passage from the administrative court to the Egyptian council of the pilot case.
The appointment at the Emergency Court of State Security of Mansura, Patrick's hometown on the Nile delta, is for 10 am local and Italian time but, as usual, it is not clear at what time the hearing will be held. .
Zaki is on the loose after being released from prison on December 8 and at the end of 22 months of pre-trial detention, but at the moment he cannot return to Italy due to the ongoing trial for "spreading false news inside and outside the country" based on a 2019 article on Christians in Egypt persecuted by Isis and discriminated against by fringes of Muslim society.
