Egypt court orders release of rights activist pending trial

CAIRO (AP) — A rights group says an Egyptian court has ordered the release pending trial of an activist who has been imprisoned for nearly two years. The court in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura postponed the trial of Patrick George Zaki until Feb. 1 to give prosecutors and defense lawyers time to prepare their arguments. That’s according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which represents Zaki. The 29-year-old human rights advocate and student at the University of Bologna in Italy was arrested in February 2020 shortly after he landed in Cairo from Italy. Egypt’s jailing and silencing of critics has brought international condemnation.