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Egypt court jails 'absent dissident' for two years
A Cairo court sentenced exiled Egyptian sociologist Sa'ad Al Deen Ebrahim in absentia to two years in jail on Saturday on charges of damaging Egypt's reputation.
- Agencies
- Published: 14:58 August 2, 2008
Cairo: A Cairo court sentenced exiled Egyptian sociologist Sa'ad Al Deen Ebrahim in absentia to two years in jail on Saturday on charges of damaging Egypt's reputation.
Ebrahim, who spent months in prison in 2002 on similar charges, has been living abroad for more than a year for fear of arrest if he comes back to Egypt.
He is now in Istanbul for a G8 conference on democracy in the Middle East, his wife said.
The low-level Khalifa misdemeanours court gave Ebrahim the option of paying a surety of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about Dh7,000) to avoid imprisonment and appeal against the sentence. His defence team said he would take that option.
Judge Hesham Bashir of Cairo's Al Khalifa Court sentenced the sociologist to two years behind bars for "tarnishing Egypt's reputation".
The case stemmed from a private prosecution by two lawyers who objected to remarks Ebrahim made about Egypt at a conference in the Qatari capital Doha, judicial sources said.
Lawyers Abul Naga Al Mehrezi and Hossam Salim had taken Ebrahim to court and accused him of defaming the country after a series of articles and speeches on citizenship and democracy in which he criticised the Egyptian regime.
At the conference Ebrahim publicly suggested the Bush administration link its aid to Egypt with political reform and improvements in its human rights practices, the charges said.
It is one of several suits filed against Ebrahim by politicians and others, some of them close to the authorities.
Rights groups say the suits are a way for the government to intimidate Ebrahim without putting its name to the cases.
Several attempts
Ebrahim's wife Barbara said she knew of at least six similar suits which judges had thrown out in recent months, often on the grounds that the plaintiffs had no direct interest in the case. "My assumption is that they have been trying to find a court that will finally get him," she said yesterday.
Ebrahim has both Egyptian and US citizenship and the United States campaigned vigorously for his release in 2002. The case put some strain on relations between Egypt and Washington.
Ebrahim said last month he wanted to return from exile abroad but only after receiving assurances he will not be arrested.
According to the independent daily Al Masri Al Youm, Ebrahim had written to the foreign ministry asking for guarantees that he would not be held on arrival. The 69-year-old went into exile several months ago, citing a climate prejudicial to political opposition and human rights.
Activism: Vocal critic of Mubarak
Egyptian sociologist Sa'ad Al Deen Ebrahim is a vocal critic of President Hosni Mubarak.
Ebrahim, who has both Egyptian and US citizenship, went into exile several months ago, citing a climate prejudicial to political opposition and human rights.
Ebrahim, who founded the Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Development Studies, was sentenced in 2001 to seven years for "tarnishing Egypt's reputation," before being freed on appeal after spending 10 months behind bars.
The United States campaigned vigorously for his release in 2002. The case put some strain on relations between Egypt and Washington.
Ebrahim was quoted in the Washington Post last year as saying he preferred to remain outside Egypt for fear of being arrested "or worse."
- Agencies
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