<p>Egyptian human rights groups on Saturday accused the authorities of "recycling" judicial cases against dissidents to prolong their periods of detention.</p>.<p>"Recycling cases occurs when a new case is brought by the prosecution against someone who has already been released for another case or is still serving a previous sentence, often times in pre-trial detention," the six groups said in a joint statement.</p>.<p>Pre-trial detention can last up to two years under Egyptian law, but the period is often extended.</p>.<p>"The new cases are in effect simply revived or renewed versions of the old cases against the defendants," the groups said.</p>.<p>They called for prosecutors to "carry out their roles in investigation and collecting evidence, instead of relying on state security investigations".</p>.<p>The groups pointed to a specific case of defendants being re-tried on new charges while in jail or when they were about to be released.</p>.<p>A prominent detainee in the case, along with several activists and journalists, is award-winning human rights lawyer Mahienour el-Massry, who was arrested in September 2019 charged with joining a "terror group".</p>.<p>On August 31, investigators charged her on the very same accusation, effectively extending her detention.</p>.<p>"State security authorities in Egypt routinely and relentlessly apply this practice of 'recycling cases' or 'renewed arbitrary arrest' ... as soon as a decision to release them (dissidents) is issued or before the legal period for their pre-trial detention has expired," the groups said.</p>.<p>In a 2019 interview with the US television programme 60 Minutes, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said no political prisoners were held in Egyptian jails.</p>.<p>According to several NGOs, however, an estimated 60,000 detainees in Egypt are political prisoners.</p>.<p>They include secular activists, journalists, lawyers, academics and Islamists arrested in a crackdown on dissent ever since the army's 2013 ouster of late Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.</p>
<p>Egyptian human rights groups on Saturday accused the authorities of "recycling" judicial cases against dissidents to prolong their periods of detention.</p>.<p>"Recycling cases occurs when a new case is brought by the prosecution against someone who has already been released for another case or is still serving a previous sentence, often times in pre-trial detention," the six groups said in a joint statement.</p>.<p>Pre-trial detention can last up to two years under Egyptian law, but the period is often extended.</p>.<p>"The new cases are in effect simply revived or renewed versions of the old cases against the defendants," the groups said.</p>.<p>They called for prosecutors to "carry out their roles in investigation and collecting evidence, instead of relying on state security investigations".</p>.<p>The groups pointed to a specific case of defendants being re-tried on new charges while in jail or when they were about to be released.</p>.<p>A prominent detainee in the case, along with several activists and journalists, is award-winning human rights lawyer Mahienour el-Massry, who was arrested in September 2019 charged with joining a "terror group".</p>.<p>On August 31, investigators charged her on the very same accusation, effectively extending her detention.</p>.<p>"State security authorities in Egypt routinely and relentlessly apply this practice of 'recycling cases' or 'renewed arbitrary arrest' ... as soon as a decision to release them (dissidents) is issued or before the legal period for their pre-trial detention has expired," the groups said.</p>.<p>In a 2019 interview with the US television programme 60 Minutes, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said no political prisoners were held in Egyptian jails.</p>.<p>According to several NGOs, however, an estimated 60,000 detainees in Egypt are political prisoners.</p>.<p>They include secular activists, journalists, lawyers, academics and Islamists arrested in a crackdown on dissent ever since the army's 2013 ouster of late Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.</p>