The International Journal
of Not-for-Profit Law

Volume 4, Issue 4, June 2002

Egypt

Saad Ibrahim Convincted Again

The retrial of Saad Ibrahim, Director of the now-closed Iban Khaldun Center for International Development in Cairo, and his colleagues ended with their re-conviction on all counts. Following their sentencing on Monday, July 29, 2002, they were led off to jail.  This result was not expected, and it has provoked great consternation on the part of Ibrahim’s family, his many friends, and the international community.  The following discussion is based on press reports (BBC and Reuters) immediately following the conviction and sentencing.

The court sources said the verdict was announced shortly after defense lawyers delivered their closing arguments, which surprised some observers who expected more time would be taken for deliberation. Mr. Ibrahim was sentenced again to seven years imprisonment.  Of 18 others who worked with him and who were also facing retrial, one received two years, two got three years, and 15 received one-year suspended sentences.

The case has been condemned by human rights groups in Egypt and abroad. They say it was aimed at limiting political debate in Egypt. “We are very shocked by the sentencing, which seems very severe. From the beginning we have said that the charges against him and the others were politically motivated,” Sara Hamood of Amnesty International told Reuters from London. She said the trial appeared to be part of attempts by Egypt to silence rights groups and muzzle civil society.  “We are very shocked and disappointed with the ruling. We were expecting that the retrial would result in a lesser sentence,” a spokesman from the British embassy in Cairo said.  There was no immediate reaction from the American Embassy, which had protested the orginal conviction.  It is expected that another international campaign will be mounted as a result of this conviction.

The following is the press release of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, which describes the legal grounds for the conviction as well as the grounds for an appeal of this decision:Cairo: 29/7/2002

The supreme State Security court issued a verdict of imprisonment sentences against Saad El Deen Ibrahim and others.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights(EOHR) is deeply concerned about the verdict issued on 29/7/2002 by the South Cairo Misdemeanors Court ( Constituency 40- Misdemeanors) in case no. 13422 of 2002 ( registered in number 2561 of 2002 – South Cairo) . This verdict was as follows:

7 years imprisonment sentence with hard labor against Dr. Saad El Deen Ibrahim; two years imprisonment sentence with hard labor against Miss Nadia Abd El Nour; a suspended one year imprisonment sentence against Mr. Khaled Fayad and Mr. Osama Hashem; two years imprisonment sentence with hard labor against Miss. Marwa Zaki; three years imprisonment sentence against Mr. Hassanein and Mrs. Magda El Sayed; and the rest of the defendants received one year suspended imprisonment sentence.

The court issued a decision to confiscate the monies of the center and the office itself including the tools, equipments and supplies.

It is worth mentioning that, Dr. Saad El Deen, the director of Ibn Khaldoun Center was arrested on June 2000 along with 27 employees. He was accused of receiving funds from outside Egypt without a permission as well as he was accused of preparing false reports and forging the electoral cards.

The State Security Court issued a verdict to imprison Saad El Deen for  7 years and the other 27 defendants received imprisonment sentences ranging from one to five years as well as 9 of them received suspended imprisonment sentences.

This verdict has been challenged before the Cassation Court (The criminal Constituency)and this court accepts the challenge on 6/2/2002 because there the challenged verdict is implemented wrongly and the state security court failed investigating the case correctly. Therefore, this court issued a decision to re-try the defendants before new judicial body.

EOHR affirms its respect for the Egyptian Judiciary rulings but it believes that the implementation of the military decrees in this case is in conflict with the verdict issued by the Egyptian cassation court (issued on 11/6/2002 regarding the challenge no. 3381 of the judicial year no.65) which stated that “According to the decree of the military ruler`s representative no. 4 of 1992 – paragraph 4 of article 1 and article 2 which punishes those who violate the military decree in the cases of : 1- Building or removing buildings. 2- Receiving funds without permission. In this regard the military ruling representative has unlawfully taken the power of the legislative body. Thus, this decree breaches the law and shall not be implemented.”

The verdict of the cassation court clarifies its stance towards the military decree and any court shall not disregard the verdict of the cassation court especially that the defense in Saad El Deen’s case who was the ex-head of the supreme constitutional court said the military decree no. 4 of 1992 is unconstitutional.

In this regard, EOHR thinks that the continuous use of this military decree is a threat to the human rights movement and Egyptian Civil Society activists.

EOHR believes that the defendants have the right to challenge the verdict before the cassation court and in the case of the acceptance of the challenge, the cassation court shall it self be responsible for the hearings of the case . Also, in the case of the issuance of a verdict by the cassation court, the verdict shall be final and it shall not be challenged anymore.