Zaki, Italian citizenship: green light in the Chamber

With 358 votes in favor and 30 abstentions, the Chamber approved the motion, first signatories Lia Quartapelle and Filippo Sensi of the Democratic Party, for the granting of Italian citizenship to Patrick Zaki, the Egyptian student engaged in the fight for human rights, who attended a master’s degree at the University of Bologna, in prison in his country since February 2020. The document commits the government “to promptly initiate, through the competent institutions, the necessary checks in order to confer Italian citizenship on Patrick George Zaki; to continue to monitor , with the presence in the courtroom of the Italian diplomatic representation in Cairo, the conduct of trial hearings against Zaki and his conditions of detention; to continue to support, in bilateral relations with Egypt and in all European and international fora, the immediate release of Patrick Zaki and all prisoners of conscience: human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and political activists ended up in prison only for having exercised their fundamental rights in a peaceful way “. The motion finally asks the Government to” continue to take initiatives so that the Egyptian authorities respect the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful demonstration and break the circle of impunity for the serious violations of human rights in progress in the country “and to” promote, at European level, actions aimed at supporting the universities of the Union in protecting the human rights of enrolled students, as part of their study and research “.” The Chamber also approved the motion to give citizenship to Patrick Zaki. Now that the Parliament in its entirety has pronounced it is up to the Government to do its part “, writes the secretary dem Enrico Letta on Twitter.” The motion has finally been voted in the House to ask for the conferral of Italian citizenship on Patrick Zaki. Let’s engage the Italian government in this battle for the freedom of Patrick, unjustly detained in Egypt “, are the words of the president of the deputies of Italy Viva Maria Elena Boschi.