Detention of Patrick Zaki

Patrick George Zaki is a Coptic Egyptian postgraduate student at the University of Bologna, Italy, who was detained in Egypt from 7 February 2020 until 9 December 2021. Zaki 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. On 9 December 2021, Zaki was released from prison, although the charges against him were not dropped. Zaki was eventually sentenced to three years of prison on 18 July 2023, but was pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and released on the following day.