Coptic Christian University of Bologna graduate student Patrick Zaki has been detained in Cairo for his human rights work. He awaits his trial amidst international protest and artistic efforts to raise awareness of his case.
Patrick Zaki pre-detention in 2020. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Cutouts and paintings of a line-drawn young man with “Freedom for Patrick Zaki” scrawled across the chest are plastered on almost every surface around the college-town of Bologna, Italy. Zaki is a Coptic Egyptian master’s student with an Erasmus scholarship to pursue a degree in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Bologna. He also serves as a researcher and advocate for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo-based human rights organization.
Zaki returned to Egypt for a short family visit on February 7, 2020. Upon arriving at the airport in Cairo, he was arrested by the National Security Agency (NSA) of Egypt and detained on the grounds of “disseminating false news” and “inciting to protest” because of an article he published about discrimination faced by Coptic Christians in Egypt. He was taken to an undisclosed location, where, according to Zaki’s lawyer, he was blindfolded, handcuffed, threatened, beaten on the back and stomach, and tortured with electrical shocks during a17-hour-long interrogation about his human rights work and time in Italy.
The drawing on the cutouts was created by artist Gianluca Constantini a few hours after the news of Zaki’s disappearance broke. The illustration was then adopted by Amnesty International’s campaign for his release. It can be seen printed on giant posters at Piazza Maggiore (the central square) and under the Two Towers (Bologna’s main tourist attraction). It was featured prominently in the protests organized by students, human rights organizations and several Italian universities, which have led 100 cities in Italy (including Bologna, Florence, Milan and Naples) to grant Zaki honorary citizenship.
The audience of the drawing and its intended audience depends on where the cutouts are placed. Those placed around college campuses—including 150 filling an entire university library—immediately after Zaki’s arrest were meant to generate awareness and outrage. Now, students in Bologna have known about the case for two years, so the purpose of the cutouts isn’t as much to inform and inflame but to serve as a reminder that the struggle is far from over. The drawings placed in and around popular tourist attractions serve to draw international awareness to the ongoing issue.
Following a robust student movement and international outcry, Zaki was released from prison on December 9, 2021, after 22 months behind bars. The charges against him have not been dropped, and if convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. His hearing has been postponed from February 1, 2022 to April 6. Zaki, who sees the drawn out judicial process as another form of torture, has requested authorization from Egyptian authorities to return to Italy.
Still, Zaki and his family are thankful for the partial victory. When he was released, his mother told journalists, “I’m jumping for joy!”
Zaki, with quiet optimism, says, “The first thing I will do when I return to Bologna is to go and spend the whole day in Piazza Maggiore, meet my friends from the university and eat the exquisite Italian food.”
He is also aware of the drawing and the accompanying journalism.
“Art plays a leading role in advancing the cases of political prisoners and expanding their circles of support by creating awareness of their legal affairs” Zaki said. “My case is living proof: art has played a fundamental part in regaining my freedom, albeit still partially. I would like to thank Gianluca and journalist Laura Cappon who wrote a book about the case illustrated by Constantini for their activism over the past two years and for their support. I hope they continue to use their talents to free other prisoners of conscience.”
To Get Involved
As Zaki’s case continues and the hearing unfolds, artwork by Gianluca and others will likely play a central role in stirring public consciousness and continued investment. To support the case and continue to apply international pressure, you can sign the Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) letter of appeal to release Zaki. The organization also provides a letter template to send to your representatives, requesting they engage with their Egyptian counterparts to work towards freeing Zaki. Social media can also be used to raise awareness by tagging your elected officials in tweets with #FreePatrick.
Izzy Balaban
Izzy is a student at the University of Chicago, currently pursuing a Creative Writing degree with a minor in Human Rights. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling, trying new food and reading in her hammock.