General Intelligence HQ part of Egypt's legal areas of detention

This picture taken on August 3, 2021 shows a view of the “Iconic Tower” skyscraper (C) and other construction work ongoing at the “business and finance district” of Egypt’s “New Administrative Capital” megaproject, some 45 kilometres east of Cairo. [KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images]

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior on Tuesday decided to consider the headquarters of the General Intelligence Service in the New Administrative Capital as one of the places legally authorised to detain suspects in intelligence cases.

The decision was issued at the request of the secretary-general of the General Intelligence Service. According to the Egyptian Penal Code, crimes harmful to the security of the state include communicating with a foreign country or someone working in another country’s interest to carry out hostile acts against Egypt or to harm Egypt’s military, political, diplomatic or economic status.

This is the second decision which legalises the detention of defendants in one of the headquarters of the General Intelligence Service. In 1968 the General Intelligence building Matariyyah, in the northern region of Greater Cairo, was approved to hold detainees charged with state security offenses.

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