The Senate on Wednesday approved a
motion to grant Italian citizenship to Patrick Zaki, an Egyptian
Bologna University postgraduate student held in Egypt since
February 7 last year on charges of "disseminating false news"
and "inciting to protest".
The motion was approved by 2018 votes to nil with 33
abstentions.
The nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party abstained.
The motion also urges the government to press Egyptian
authorities to free Zaki; to monitor his hearings and detention
conditions; and to act on a European level to safeguard human
rights in countries where violations persist and to bring
initiatives to the G7 with particular attention for cases of
repression of political activists.
The vote was hailed by Zaki's supporters and human rights
activists.
Centre-left Democratic Party Senator said it was "important for
human rights" while populist 5-Star Movement Senator Nicola
Morra said "citizenship is sacrosanct" and hailed the presence
at the vote of 90-year-old Holocaust survivor and Life Senator
Liliana Segre who "has shown that some battles unites us all".
Zaki, a 29-year-old Coptic Christian, is pursuing an Erasmus
Mundus Master's Degree in Women and Gender Studies at the
University of Bologna. He also conducts research and advocacy on
gender issues and human rights for the Egyptian Initiative for
Personal Rights (EIPR), a human rights organization based in
Cairo.
Motions for his release have been rejected on countless
occasions, most recently earlier this month.
Zaki was arrested on arriving at Cairo International Airport
when he returned home from Bologna for a short family visit. The
Egyptian National Security Agency reportedly arrested Zaki,
interrogated him about his time in Italy and his human rights
work, and took him to an undisclosed location.
During interrogation, he was allegedly frequently threatened,
beaten on his stomach and back and tortured with electric
shocks.
The European Parliament, Amnesty International and Scholars At
Risk have been among the bodies calling for his release, along
with the Italian government.
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