Egyptian judge orders arrest of ‘fugitive’ foreigners for NGO trial

Cairo: An Egyptian court Thursday ordered authorities to arrest foreigners for allegedly receiving "illegal foreign funding", a week after they left the country aboard a military US plane.

'Fugitive defendants'

The chief judge Makram Awwad, heading a new panel of judges to handle the high-profile case, Thursday told Egyptian authorities to “take all necessary measures” to ensure that all “fugitive defendants” appear before the court.

He made the order after only 15 out of the 43 activists accused in the case turned up in the courtroom on the outskirts of Cairo.

Awwad said that the hearings would be adjourned until April 10 to allow defence lawyers time to look into its files.

Since it surfaced in December, the case has stretched ties between Egypt and the United States to their worst point in more than three decades.

Threat to cut aid

Washington has threatened to cut 1.5 billion in annual aid to its key regional ally.

Egypt’s military rulers and government were sharply criticised by the opposition for lifting a ban travel on the defendants who include 19 Americans.

The foreigners, who also include Germans, Serbs and Norwegians, left the country on March 1 after posting hefty bail, according to judicial sources. 

The surprising lifting of the ban came hours after a panel of judges said it had withdrawn from hearing the case, citing “a feeling of uneasiness”. 

Criminal court

Last month, Egyptian authorities referred the activists, including Sam LaHoud, the son of the US transportation secretary, to a criminal court, accusing them of meddling in the country’s politics and working for unlicensed organisations.

The magistrates also slapped a travel ban on the defendants and placed on an in-bound watch list the accused who had already left Egypt.

Pro-democracy groups have said that the case is politically motivated to punish civil society institutions for exposing alleged human rights violations by the military who has been ruling Egypt since long-standing president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down last year.