The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) renewed its demand to Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release film producer Moataz Abdelwahab, who further faces the “fabricated illogical accusation” of joining a terrorist group while in custody.
The case for Moataz Abdelwahab has just escalated, stresses European Film Academy Chair Mike Downey, co-founder of International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk with IDFA and IFFR. After 22 weeks of pre-trial detention, his release was ordered, but instead of releasing him immediately, the prosecution filed a new of charge of joining a terrorist group while in custody. “These trumped up charges are unacceptable. Equally unacceptable are the conditions in which he is being held, and his state of health. We call on the Supreme Court for State Security to release him at once.”
“The systematic ‘revolving doors’ policy against activists and opposition,” added Downey, “is a particularly cruel technique used by the regime to break down their opponents and families and deprives them of their basic human rights, even when justice has been technically served.”
The Egyptian producer Moataz Abdelwahab (43) produced the feature film When We’re Born (2019) by director Tamer Izzat, which played at the El Gouna International Film Festival and Les Journées Cinématographique de Cartage 2019, as well as a number of documentaries, among them Khan’s Fingerprints, a portrait of the prominent Egyptian director Mohammad Khan, The Heart of Cairo, examining the history of the city, and most recently A Curfew, the upcoming film by renowned Egyptian filmmaker Amir Ramses.
Founded in 2019 by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, International Film Festival Rotterdam and the European Film Academy, the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk’s mission is to advocate for and to act in solidarity with filmmakers at risk. The Coalition acts in cases of persecution or threats to the personal safety of these filmmakers and will defend their right to continue their work, by mobilising the international film community.
