Saudi Arabia to flog Egyptian activist on January 25, sister says

Cairo: Saudi authorities will flog an Egyptian activist and rights lawyer, convicted of smuggling drugs into the kingdom, on January 25, which marks the third anniversary of an uprising that forced Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak out of power, the convict’s sister said.

Sherine, the sister of Ahmad Al Jizawi, told Gulf News that she had learnt about the alleged date to flog her brother from Egyptians working in the oil-rich kingdom and some Saudi activists.

There is no official word from Cairo or Riyadh about the flogging date.

In January 2013, a Saudi court sentenced Al Jizawi to five years in prison and 500 lashes after he was found guilty of attempting to smuggle drugs pills into the country.

Al Jizawi had filed several lawsuits against the Saudi government accusing it of arbitrarily detaining Egyptians and torturing them in jail. Egyptian activists claim that he had been arrested at Jeddah airport, while on a trip to perform Umra (lesser pilgrimage), because he had criticised Saudi labour policy and King Abdullah in a local TV interview. Saudi authorities denied these allegations, saying Al Jizawi was arrested after 21,380 drugs pills stashed in formula milk packets were found in his possession upon arrival in the country.

The arrest in April 2012 triggered a diplomatic row between Muslim Brotherhood-ruled Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two regional powers. The kingdom briefly recalled her ambassador from Cairo after dozens of Egyptians staged a protest outside the Saudi embassy.

“Ahmad’s health condition does not allow him to be kept in jail and flogged as he is suffering from a tumour in the stomach, a matter that worsens his health,” Sherine said.

She urged Egypt’s military-backed government to pursue a pardon for her brother.

“The Egyptian authorities have not yet taken a step to keep their promise to seek pardon for him even after a final verdict has been issued against him,” she added. “Every time we have raised the issue during the past two years, they would tell us to wait until the ruling is final so that they could request pardon for him.”

Last month, another Saudi court upheld the verdict.

“Under Saudi law, pardon is applicable if the [inmate] has served a quarter of his jail term. My brother has served more than half the term. He is also well-behaved, as attested to by the court judge and records,” she said.

Sherine added that her brother has helped convert two prisoners to Islam. “He also learns by heart a large part of God’s Book (the Quran), which increases his chances for pardon.”

“Although the legal advisor to the Egyptian consulate provided proof of my brother’s innocence and the Cairo airport said he did not have any drugs pills when he left Cairo, he was given a cruel sentence,” said Sherine.

“All what I want now from the Egyptian government represented in the [caretaker] President Adly Mansour and Gen Al Sisi is to make swift moves and request that Ahmad be pardoned,” she added, referring to Egypt’s Defence Minister Abdul Fatah Al Sisi. Saudi Arabia has been a staunch political and financial supporter of Egypt since July 2013 when Al Sisi led the ouster of Egyptian Islamist president Mohammad Mursi after enormous street protests against his one year-old rule.