Naji Salim reappeared after two and a half months of enforced disappearance

Naji Salim reappeared after two and a half months of enforced disappearance

On March 31, 2020, a group of individuals belonging to the State Security Forces entered Naji Salim’s shop and arrested him. His fate and whereabouts remained unknown until June 18, 2020 when he was presented for the first time before the military public prosecutor of Alexandria.

On March 31, 2020, a man entered Naji Salim’s clothes shop and wandered around; refusing to say what he was looking for before leaving. Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the shop with a group of men dressed in civilian clothes. They arrested Salim, in the presence of bystanders, without presenting him with an arrest warrant or giving a reason for his arrest. They refused to tell the employees in the shop where they were taking him. Later that day, Salim’s family were informed by an anonymous security source that the forces responsible for his abduction were the State Security Forces.

On April1, 2020, Salim’s family filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor of Cairo, but to no avail. His fate and whereabouts remained unknown until June 18, 2020 when he was presented before the military public prosecutor of Alexandria.

Timeline

June 18, 2020: Salim is presented for the first time before the military public prosecutor of Alexandria.
April 8, 2020: The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances sends an urgent communication to the Egyptian authorities requesting them to clarify Salim’s fate and whereabouts.
April 2, 2020: MENA Rights Group requests the urgent intervention of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
April 1, 2020: Salim’s family file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor of Cairo, but to no avail.
March 31, 2020: Salim is arrested by members of the State Security Forces.