A press conference was held at the High Institute for Cinema today to discuss the case of the detained film student Fady El-Sawy and the current sit-in demanding his release.

A video was screened, where his mother and striking students stated their cases. After the video screening a conference was held where several professors, directors and people in the cinema industry discussed the measures that need to be taken for his release.

Fady was taken on 9 September, on the night protesters stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo. He faced seven charges, which included carrying explosives, clashing with police, disrupting peace and violating public property. WIthout evidence, his case has been adjourned three times so far and has been detained 15 days for investigations.

“The State Security Apparatus visited Fady and the other detainees, pretending they are human rights activists. They asked several questions, including to which parties or movements they belong to,” Fady’s mother repeated her son’s statements.

“Yesterday State Security visited him and showed him pictures they have of him taking pictures with his camera in Tahrir and called that ‘evidence,’” said his mother.

“He gave me a letter he wrote to his brother during my last visit that says how scared he is that the same thing could happen to his younger brother when he grows up. He said he hopes, instead, that his young brother will be living in a different Egypt,” she concluded.

The director Khaled Youssef encouraged more drastic measures, including a hunger strike by the students of the High Institute for Cinema and a general strike by the workers at the Egyptian Radio and Television Union.

He also suggested a concrete plan for the measures that would be taken for every day of delay.

Director Youssry Nasrallah and actor Asser Yassin and institute professors agreed with Khaled Youssef’s statements.

“When we said the people and the army are ‘one hand’ we didn’t mean that we’d cut our hand,” argued Nasrallah.

The press conference concluded with a performance by Ramy Essam, who is known as the singer of the revolution.

The strike at the Institute began on 2 October and will only end when Fady El-Sawy is released. The students on strike are also pleading for the release of all the detainees and condemn the emergency law.