Abdelmaksoud was arrested by members of the Homeland Security dressed in civilian clothes as he was leaving his office on Shoubra Rahabaya Street in Damanhour, 130km North of Cairo. Brought to the Public Prosecution's office of Damanhour, he was charged with "bombing the water network in the Zawyet Ghazal area of Damanhour on 16 August 2015," "inciting prisoners to strike" and "possessing books written by Sheikh Qaradawi." Remanded in custody for 15 days, he was brought to an unofficial detention centre located in the Central Security Forces Camp of Damanhour along with convicts, in complete violation of Egyptian prisons' law n°396 of 1956 which demands that people who have not yet been convicted be segregated from them.

Although his family and lawyer are allowed to visit him, he still has not been authorised to see a doctor, aggravating the Hepatitis C he is suffering from. Moreover, he has not yet been brought before a judge nor been granted the right to challenge the lawfulness of his detention, something he may not be able to do for a long time, as on 16 September 2015, the prosecution renewed his detention pending investigations for an additional 15 days.

"The entire procedure against Abdelmaksoud is arbitrary and although his trial has not even begun, the authorities have already breached several international fair trial rules," said Thomas-John Guinard, Alkarama's Legal Officer for the Nile Region, adding that "it wouldn't be surprising if they had done so to prevent him from appealing in due time the life sentences handed against nearly 300 of the individuals prosecuted in the aforementioned case."

Abdelmaksoud was in fact the head of the legal team that was defending over 450 civilians in a mass trial conducted before the military court of Alexandria, in which over 250 of them were sentenced in absentia to life in prison, while another 200 received sentences ranging from five to 15 years in prison. Sentenced on 11 August 2015, the defendants have 60 days to appeal the military court's decision.

According to his relatives, Abdelmaksoud was only targeted in retaliation for his work as legal counsel of political opponents. He had already been told by a military judge that he was wanted by the Homeland Security but that his arrest had been postponed to the aforementioned trial's conclusion so as not to impede its progression. As for the charges held against him, the easily verifiable fact that Abdelmaksoud was in court the day of the alleged bombing clearly shows that the accusations have been made up by the authorities to prevent him from continuing his work.

Hoping that Alkarama may help by bringing his case forwards to the UN, his family turned to Alkarama that sent an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (SRIJL) to ask the Egyptian authorities to release him immediately and to grant him a fair compensation for his time in detention. The authorities should end the harassment of human rights defenders and lawyers and release those who have been unlawfully jailed.

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