Egyptian activists urge action in Saudi case

Cairo: Local human rights groups have urged the Egyptian government to intervene and stop the flogging of an Egyptian expatriate in Saudi Arabia, citing the case as the latest in a series of alleged abuses against Egyptians in the kingdom.

The half-hearted reaction of the Egyptian government to such abuses has sent the message that the Egyptian authorities do not care about their citizens abroad, said Hassan Abdul Fatah, an Egyptian rights activist. "In most cases, the accused's right of defence is not respected," he told Gulf News.

"They are put on trial, summarily sentenced and harshly punished. Though I don't have much details about the latest case, I think it is no exception."

An Islamic court in Jeddah recently sentenced an Egyptian dressmaker to 60 lashes on charges of harassing a Saudi girl. The father of the girl told investigators that the Egyptian man, whose name was not disclosed, had deliberately touched his daughter's body while tailoring a dress for her.

These cases are mostly fake and the Egyptian government should step in to put an end to such cases, to which many Egyptian expatriates fall victim, said Hafez Abu Saeda, the chairman of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation. Besides, corporal punishment is internationally prohibited and contradicts values of human rights.

In his view, the suspect should not be penalised for doing his job. The fact that the girl went to him to get her dress made proves he had no intention to commit an offence.

There was no immediate official comment from the Egyptian authorities or the Saudi embassy in Cairo.

In October 2008, local rights groups reacted with anger when a Saudi court sentenced two Egyptian doctors to 15 years in prison and 1,500 lashes each for causing the wife of a Saudi prince to get addicted to the painkiller morphine during medical treatment. The court also convicted them of dealing in addictive drugs.

More than one million Egyptians are working in Saudi Arabia. Both Muslim countries have generally good political and economic ties.